


Undying Love

by Talwyn



Series: Undying Love Series [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, Other, Parenthood, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-06
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-10 15:12:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 179,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/787454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talwyn/pseuds/Talwyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rachel wakes up after an alcohol enhanced junior year New Year party, she finds herself in bed with the last person she ever thought she'd end up doing the horizontal tango with. When she falls pregnant she has plenty to decide, will she tell the father? Will she keep the child? Will she give up her dreams to become a mother and Lima Looser, or give up her child to pursue her dreams? Or maybe, just maybe, will she managed to beat the odds and become a Broadway Mom?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to start posting this until I'd gotten a lot further through the story rather than posting it as I wrote which is what happened with TRC, but right now I'm at chapter 4 and I'm finding it hard going writing like that, both because its easy to put off writing when there is no one waiting for the next chapter and I'm second guessing myself a lot. I still plan to keep a couple of chapters ahead of what I post but I plan to post only a chapter a week maximum rather than as often as I complete a chapter.
> 
> This is based on a prompt and title from PezberryFaberryLuvr (on FanFiction). But I won't publish the full prompt yet as that may reveal too much about the story.
> 
> Timeline: Set starting the morning of New Years Day 2011 (Season 2 somewhere between episodes 10 and 11).
> 
> Canon: Semi-AU until 2x10 then veering wildly AU as the story progresses. Begining differences: Quinn never got pregnant and so didn't have Beth, didn't get kicked out of her home or off of the Cherrios. Santana and Brittany are best friends but have never been anything more.
> 
> Warning: G!P Santana
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, sadly, the characters (other than those I make up) or any of the songs that may come up.
> 
> Note: Posted here and on FF in case FF decide to delete it. See my tumbr account (link in profile) for links to other locations.
> 
> Reviews are welcome, even negative ones, but please do keep them constructive. If you have questions or comments you don't want to put in a review, send me a message or question on tumblr, see my profile for a link.

It was the sun creeping in through a gap in the hastily drawn curtains and assaulting Rachel's still closed eyes that finally woke her to an impressive headache that first day of the new year. It was also the first hint she got that she wasn't wrapped up in her favourite cotton pyjamas and cosy in her own bed at home, it never got the sun at this time of the morning and that's the way Rachel liked it because the sun peeking in around the curtains and blinding you when you first woke was just plain rude.

A groan escapes her throat and she brings her arm up to cover her eyes from the assault already promising herself that she's never going to drink again in her life. Ever. The moment drags her arm out from under the sheet that is covering her body and when it falls back over her skin she can't help but appreciate the softness of the sheet against her. Her naked skin. Her entire naked body…

Oh… dear.

The sheets were nice though, Egyptian cotton or something similar, very high thread count and Rachel lets herself get distracted by the feel of them against her skin for a while because she's not entirely sure she'll like whatever she find out next. When she shifts her body to feel the sheets rub against her skin again she's also rewarded with an unfamiliar dull ache between her legs and a flashback of a sudden sharp pain as something slid into her the previous night.

Slid into her?

She'd swallow nervously if her mouth wasn't sandpaper dry right now and she attempts to cast her mind back to the previous night to piece together exactly what happened. She remembered arriving eager for the first real party she'd been invited to and on time of course because who shows up for a party late? Well that night Rachel learned that most people do because there weren't many people at Puck's house when she arrived to find Puck still in the process of setting up.

There's a memory of shots taken in the kitchen with Puck, Santana, Brittany and… maybe Quinn? The unholy trinity had all shown up together and Santana almost immediately started her mantra for the night, "for God sake, relax Berry" which eventually had the effect of persuading Rachel to forgo her intention to remain sober and actually partake in some of the alcoholic beverages, if only to shut Santana up. Maybe trying to prove to Santana that she could relax as well as the Latina could wasn't one of her better ideas.

There was some dancing with… someone. Rachel could remember bodies rubbing against each other to a heavy beat, someone breathing against her neck and hands clutching her hips as she ground her ass against their… At this point Rachel's blushing just remembering the action. Then there was singing, that's safer ground. Karaoke? Maybe but Rachel seems to remember a lot of Barbra being sung, mostly by her, which probably meant it wasn't karaoke.

There's beer pong, or maybe it was flip cup, even at the time Rachel hadn't been too sure what they'd been playing and as if things hadn't been vague enough up to that point, her memory from then on was like walking through a thick fog. There is a clear memory of sitting on the sofa next to Santana trying to match her drink for drink and on reflection Rachel decides that that probably wasn't one of her better ideas even if it did seem like fun at the time. After that her memory deteriorates to a sequence of flash frames of sensation and visuals, the flash of pain, a feeling of fullness, an odd memory of someone else's breasts which may have been real or may have been some weird fantasy and then a feeling of pleasure so sudden and intense Rachel thinks she may have blacked out for a while. Or maybe that was the alcohol.

Someone shifts in the bed next to Rachel and a feeling of dread settles into her already churning stomach, she's pretty sure that if she could actually move she'd be bent over the side of the bed throwing up onto the floor at this point. Rachel's still slightly intoxicated mind puts everything together and comes up with what appears to be a logical conclusion, she'd lost her virginity to whoever was still sleeping next to her on this bed and she couldn't remember much of the event. Her fathers would be so proud, not that she's ever going to tell them about this, ever. Still, she's not entirely sure that not remembering it is such a bad thing though, after all who wants to remember their first time if it was terrible?

Rachel files those thoughts away for later consideration.

The only other breathing Rachel can hear other than her own is deep and even, so whoever it is it seems they are still soundly asleep. She risks turning her head towards her bedmate but keeps her eyes screwed tight shut until the wave of pain and nausea caused by the movement has passed then slowly cracks an eye open, jamming it shut quickly again when the little light that makes it in starts a new pounding just behind her temples.

After some experimentation and plenty of time, Rachel finally gets an eye open and focused and the first thing she sees before her are a pair of breasts. A rather nice pair of breasts too, though Rachel can't say she's an expert on the matter, but they are round, pert, covered in a lovely tan skin with dusky nipples and while the diva doesn't recognise them herself, it seems her body does since her mouth is now watering and there's a new throbbing between her legs.

That reaction gets added to her 'for later consideration' file.

Rachel angles her head back to try and get a look at the owner of the rather nice breasts and once her head stops spinning she realises its Santana. Eyes closed again because there's only so much she can process at the same time right now, Rachel considers this new piece of information and comes to the conclusion that this might not be a bad thing. Santana is gay, out and (very) proud so Rachel's pretty sure she's not going to get accused of trying to convert her to the sapphic persuasion and, from a purely technical viewpoint, it's not like the Latina can get Rachel pregnant so there are definitely worse people she could have lost her virginity too.

The fact that she's apparently lost her virginity to another girl doesn't bother Rachel, the diva has always accepted that she was attracted to both genders even if she has only dated boys until this point. Granted Santana will probably never let her live it down and Rachel wouldn't put it past the Latina to get a t-shirt made up proclaiming the event if she can remember it when she wakes up, but the diva's also beginning to regret that she can't remember anything because if the rumours she's heard are true, Santana is pretty damn good between the sheets.

There's a little snore and snort from the Latina and Rachel's pretty sure she can hear the other girl mumbling phrases like "Oh God, yes", "don't stop" and "right there" and Rachel is starting to get rather amused by the fact that Santana appears to be having a rather good sex dream when the phrase "Fuck Rach, yes!" causes her heart to almost stop and her face to flush. It is at this point that Santana decides to roll onto her side towards Rachel, her arm naturally coming to rest around Rachel's waist and the Latina pulls the other body against hers, burying her face in the diva's neck.

For a while all Rachel can do is lay there enjoying the sensation of the other girl pressing against her skin on skin since it turns out that Santana is totally naked as well, but eventually her brain catches up with what her senses are telling her and she starts to wonder just exactly what is poking her in the thigh. Was Santana wearing a strap-on? On one hand that made sense because it would explain the memory of something filling her, but who'd bring or wear a strap-on to a party?

Rachel can't help but grin at that thought it's exactly something Santana would do.

It would be just like the girl, especially if she was intending to attempt to pull someone and wanted to give them a surprised. Or maybe it was for a bet or dare. After a few moments Rachel decides she wants to know more about this attachment, after all it's probably been inside her and it would be interesting to at least find out how big it was. Curiosity may have killed the cat but Rachel's pretty sure it gave her an awesome orgasm last night.

Santana moans when Rachel's fingers finally find the thing poking her and that confuses the diva for a moment but she come to the conclusion that she either stroked the Latina's skin while moving or there's something on the other end of the attachment that's inside the other girl and it moved at Rachel's touch. The odd thing is that the strap-on doesn't feel like a strap-on, not that Rachel knows what one of those feel like, but it doesn't feel like hard plastic or silicone or anything fake like that, it feels warm and pretty much like skin.

Rachel is still considering this, stroking her fingers over the rather well shaped tip, when Santana moans again, her hips thrust against Rachel for a moment then a groan and the diva's hand and thigh is covered by a warm sticky substance.

When Rachel's brain finally catches up with her body she's sitting bold upright in bed, sheets falling down around her waist exposing both herself and Santana with the Latina's arm still across her lap and her hand is held before her, palm up and covered in something that is obviously semen. She uses her other hand to lift the sheet and eyes Santana's crotch for a moment, which is enough to decide that the Latina is most definitely not wearing a strap-on.

Santana has a penis.

Rachel frowns for a moment filing this fact in her 'for later consideration' file because right now is not the time to get into a philosophical discussion about the merits of females with additional bits, even if it is with herself. Rachel is already out of bed and in the en-suite scrubbing her hand and thigh clean of the sticky substance, adrenalin seems to be a great hangover cure. She finds her clothes except her panties which she can't locate after a frantic search so she dresses with what she has, slips out the door and quietly descends the stairs tugging repeatedly on her dress so her lack of underwear doesn't become apparent to anyone else.

There are people sleeping everywhere downstairs but the path to the front door is thankfully clear so Rachel slips out without anyone hearing her and a few moments later she's on her way home in the back of a hastily called cab.

* * *

It was the click of the door closing behind Rachel that finally woke Santana up, that and the sudden coolness caused by the lack of another body in the bed with her, though Santana would never actually be aware of either of those facts.

What Santana did know was the unusual feeling of satisfaction that permeated her body as she rolled over and stretched out in the queen size bed. Unusual because after one of those dreams she usually woke up hard and horny and had to take matters into her own hands if she wanted any relief, but today she felt relaxed, happy and sated. Odd, but she wasn't about to bitch about feeling good.

She was used to the sex dreams by now. When they had first started Santana had been horrified mainly because, as well as featuring a wide selection of attractive movie or music stars which the Latina had no problem with, they sometimes featured one of her two best friends, Brittany and Quinn, and very occasionally both leaving her unable to look them in the eye for the next week.

After one period when Santana had barely been able to speak to the pair for about a month, they had finally cornered her and demanded to know what was going on. Their reaction to Santana's red faced confession had not been disgust or hate as she had feared it would be, but had been to start making out with each other in front of her as often as they could in what Quinn described as a scientific experiment to test if external visual stimulus could increase the frequency and intensity of nocturnal arousal and emissions.

They succeeded.

Santana always thought they looked like a pair of fucking Barbie's going at it but she wasn't about to complain, or point that out, if she was getting a free show. And yeah, Brittany and Quinn were very gay for each other though Quinn still firmly in the closet to everyone other than Santana but the Latina was pretty sure you'd have to be blind not to notice something between the pair. Then again there were plenty of people in this cow-town that only saw what they wanted to anyway.

Having Berry feature in her dream was a first though. Santana could vaguely remember drinking and even dancing with the diva the previous night, dancing quite closely if she remembered accurately, and maybe that was enough for her to get a starring role. But the detail had been breath-taking, the soft feel of the girl's skin, the mole on her hip, the small scar on her shoulder, the little moans, groans and grunts she'd made and the feel of her coming as Santana was buried inside her were all so detailed and fresh that Santana could almost swear it actually happened.

Almost.

Santana had seen Quinn and Brittany in bikini's and sports bras and spankies when they were changing after Cheerios, but her dreams about them had never been as detailed and she couldn't remember seeing Berry in anything other than those god-awful sweaters and sinfully short skirts or the occasional dress for a Glee performance. Santana mentally shrugs and put it down to an active imagination and too much alcohol.

Cracking an eye and looking around confirms to Santana that she is alone in a room she identified as Puck's guest room and that it was still too damned early to be awake. Without once wondering why she'd woken up, Santana rolls over in bed, makes herself comfortable and drifted back off to sleep.

* * *

When Rachel reached home she was thankful that her fathers were away at relatives for the new year holiday. She had been supposed to join them but then Puck had invited her to his party and she'd pretty much begged her fathers to allow her to stay home alone so she could attend and they had eventually, though reluctantly, agreed as long as she promised to take care of herself and not to drink too much.

Hmmm.

Rachel heads upstairs to her room and searches in her bathroom cabinet for some advil eventually swallowing two with some water and then returns to her bedroom, standing lost in thought for a moment in the middle of her room.

She got drunk and ended up losing her virginity to Santana. Not only that but she enjoyed losing her virginity to Santana, as much as she can remember anyway. And Santana has a penis. The thoughts spin round in her head and she knows there's something important she's missing, but her head is still pounding and she's pretty sure she is still somewhat drunk so the only other thought she can muster is to wonder if that makes her gay or straight.

She sighs and turns towards her bed, the material of her dress caressing her ass and reminding her of her lack of underwear. She pulls her dress off over her head and tosses it towards the hamper in the corner of the room, followed shortly after by her bra. She stands for a moment by the bed looking down at her star spangled pyjamas that she loves so much then pulls back the sheets and slides between them still naked.

Within moments she's fast asleep dreaming of intimate encounters with a certain Latina and when she wakes some hours later, the need for birth control never occurs to her.


	2. Chapter 2

On the first day of school of the new year, Rachel bounces out of bed as normal when her alarm clock goes off at 6am. She doesn't have to strip before putting on her workout gear as she slept naked again last night, a habit she seems to have gotten into since the turn of the year, and she soon settles into her normal rhythm on the elliptical before considering the day ahead.

School is a mixed blessing, which is actually probably an understatement but Rachel always tries to find the silver lining. On the plus side she has some of her favorite subjects today and a Glee club practice that she's sure she'll enjoy even if she has to fight to get her chance to sing. She knows that she has the best voice in the club though and while she does admit that some of the others are good, Santana's smoky tone sends shivers down her spine whenever the Latina sings Amy Winehouse for example, it's understandable that they are a little jealous of her prodigious talent.

On the down side Rachel knows she's probably going to get a slushy facial at least once, twice or more if she's unlucky, plus there will be the usual name calling and she'll probably be shoved out of the way at least once by someone on the football team, though that's because they do that to anyone who isn't on one of the sports teams or the Cheerios and not aimed directly at her.

Rachel pauses at the thought of the Cheerios and Santana even as she works on her elliptical. Her mind goes back to waking up in the same bed as the other girl and being held for that short time after Santana rolled over into her and just the memory of it makes her flush and causes her heart to beat faster. Today at school will be the first time she's seen the Latina since the new year party and she wonders if Santana will remember the events of that night or not, if she'll pretend the incident had never happened or use it to tease and bully her even more than normal. Rachel with a sigh that only time will tell.

Her workout done, she dives into the shower and gets dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast where she finds her Daddy already in the kitchen.

"Morning Daddy!" she smiles at him.

"Morning Honey, ready for breakfast?"

"Are you sure you can make it without burning the house down?" Rachel teases

Rachel's Daddy isn't what you'd call accomplished in the kitchen and there is a real possibility that he could set the place alight trying to make something as simple as toast but he takes the teasing happily.

"Well you're here now, so you can keep an eye on things, right?" he chuckles back.

Rachel did indeed have to save the toast from being overdone, why her Daddy preferred the grill rather than the perfectly good toaster was something she'll never understand, but eventually breakfast was ready without any further incidents and Rachel's Dad joined them just as they sat down at the table.

"Morning all, how are my two favorite people in the world today?" he asks with a smile.

Rachel bounds out of her seat to great her Daddy with a huge hug and a kiss before they both sit down at the table again to have their breakfasts.

"Ready for your first day of the year at school honey?" he asks.

The breakfast table is full of the usual discussion, plans for the day ahead, hopes and dreams, encouragement and love and when its finally time for Rachel to leave for school both her father's give her a hug and kiss, wish her well and wave her off from the front door before they too head to work.

* * *

The reaction in Santana's bedroom to the new day and the first school day of the new year was rather less enthusiastic than in Rachel's. The Latina's reaches out and, after a few abortive attempts, finally finds the right button on the alarm clock to shut the damn thing up and she greets the silence with a grateful groan. She's lucky Sue, the occasionally insane and generally weird Cheerios coach, hadn't gotten around to scheduling morning practices yet because even this early hour would be a lay in on those days.

She wants to turn over and go back to sleep so badly because the dream she was just so rudely woken from was so good and she really wants to see how it ends, she can't help but groan a little at the fading memory and the tightness in her stomach. The dream was about Berry of course, every damn dream she could remember since the new year had been about the diva, the girl sliding down her length, rocking back and forth on top of the Latina, feeling the diva's heat wrapped around her cock and the noises she made when the Latina came inside her.

But unlike that first dream when she woke up feeling better than she had in a long time, the recent dreams always left her hard and frustrated with no release but what she took care of herself. The irrational part of her brain wants to blame Berry for that, though the girl has no idea that Santana is dreaming about her and couldn't do anything about it if she did, the Latina can't help but feel that her constant frustration is the girls fault. Maybe if she didn't wear those damn short skirts.

She covers her eyes with her arm trying to block out the little light that was making its way through her curtain and wonders for a moment if her mother will forget what day it is today.

*Bang*Bang*Bang*

"Wake up Mi'ja or you'll be late for school!" Her mother calls through the door.

"Si Mami, I'm awake, I'm awake." Santana calls back.

So much for that idea. Santana rolls out of bed with a groan, stretching to work out the kinks then pushes her shorts down, groaning in relief as her length springs free, and tossing them and her tank top into the hamper in her bathroom. She fiddles with the shower for a bit, waiting until the water has heated up before she stands underneath the flow and lets the water cascade over her body.

Not surprisingly the shower does nothing to relieve the tension flowing through Santana's body and with a sigh she reaches down between her legs and wraps her hand around her shaft. It only takes a few strokes and the image of Rachel towering over her as she lies on a bed floating behind her closed eyelids before Santana shudders and releases her load against the shower tiles with a groan of relief.

"Fucking Berry."

Santana grunts at the irony because fucking Berry is pretty much what she's been dreaming about for the last few days. So she scrubs the night and the dream away before climbing out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body and heading back out to her room to get ready for the day ahead.

The good thing about being Coach Sue's bitch, otherwise known as a member of the Cheerios, is she doesn't have to think about what to wear this early in the morning because left to her own devices before her first coffee of the day Santana's pretty sure she might end up dressed worse than Berry, though where she'd get the knee high socks, penny loafers or animal sweaters is beyond her. She hopes she never has to find out.

However the Cheerios uniform makes it easy. Apart from her special underwear it's just spankies, sports bra, paneled skirt, uniform top and white sneakers, occasionally adding sweat pants and a white turtle neck if it's cold. The skirt is so pointless it's like she's walking around in her underwear half the time, but she knows she has a great ass and legs to kill for and she's had plenty of practice hiding the extra part between her legs so she's not worried about anyone noticing. Not that anyone should be looking too closely at that area and if they do, they'll be lucky if they can remember their name when Santana's done with them.

But the uniform isn't just about representing the school or conformity with the other Cheerios or Coach Sue's wishes, to Santana it's also her armour. Granted it probably couldn't even stop an HB pencil thrown hard enough, but it does protect her from anyone that might otherwise think she would make a good target and it helps her hide the secret between her legs. Being second only to Quinn on the pyramid means everyone else is her minion, her target or trying not to become her target, which means no one looks too closely at her.

Hiding in plain sight.

Her hair is dry and up in its normal high ponytail, her makeup is flawless as always and her uniform is wrinkle free and spotless, even the sneakers which are a bitch to keep clean. She pauses to check herself in the full length mirror in one corner of the room, presenting one side of her body and then the other, nods happily at what she sees then heads downstairs for breakfast.

Her Father is already out at his office, no surprise there, and her Mother is on her way out the door as Santana descends the stairs.

"I'll see you tonight Mi'ja" Her mother says to Santana as she heads out the door, "Have a good day at school and don't forget your appointment with Dr Michaels, love you!"

The door slams behind her mother before Santana can reply, as always, so she sighs and heads towards the kitchen looking for some coffee before she has to leave for school.

* * *

There are places at William McKinley High where a couple can go and make out with being stared at or even seen by anyone that happens to walk past, mainly because very few people deign or dare to walk past those particular places, but sitting in the front seats of a car in the students parking lot isn't one of them, which of course is why Santana finds Quinn and Brittany doing just that.

Santana stands directly in front of Quinn's car smirking to herself as she watches the totally oblivious pair through the windscreen before walking up to the driver's door and slapping the palm of her hand against the window a couple of times. There are two thumps in quick succession as first Quinn then Brittany's head hits the roof of the car as they jump in surprise and the Latina can't help but chuckle as she climbs in the back seat.

"You know the only way you two could be more obvious is if you got out and fucked each other on the hood of the car." Santana observes as she starts filing her already perfect nails.

"There's no need to be crude." Quinn snaps as she turns round to glare at the Latina.

"It wasn't me that just had my tongue down Britt's throat in full view of anyone that happened to wander past."

"Fuck you."

"Yeah, you'd love to if you got the chance."

"I would" Brittany agrees, her chin resting on her hands as she peers over the back of her seat at Santana.

There's an uncomfortable moments silence as Quinn's head snaps round to stare open-mouthed at the other blonde while Santana feels her face flush and wishes the back seat would open up and swallow her. Sometimes Brittany was just a little too forward…

"Well, not gonna happen Britt, sorry." Santana says only to receive a sad pout from the blonde in question.

"Is Little Santana still locked away in your chastity belt then?" Quinn can't help but smirk as she teases Santana but backs off when she sees the glare the Latina sends her way.

"What I do or do not do with any part of my anatomy is none of your business Fabray" Santana snarls and she makes to climb out of the car.

"San, I'm sorry" Quinn says climbing out of the car and grabbing hold of Santana's arm, "I didn't mean… I was just teasing, I'm sorry."

Quinn knows how hard life has been for Santana already and that's just trying to deal with her own and her families issues with her anatomical oddity, she doesn't need one her of best friends giving her shit about it and Quinn has sworn she would never go there with the Latina even in jest. And the Latina knows the blonde is serious, she's just said 'I'm sorry' twice and Quinn never apologizes, so Santana nods once to let Quinn know she's accepted her apology then changes the subject.

"We should get inside, homeroom is due to start soon."

By habit the three pick up their normal delta formation. In an attempt at discretion, bit late for that thinks Santana, Britt usually walks behind and to one side of Quinn because if they walked side by side they usually ended up holding hands. Santana falls in to her place next to Britt on the other side of Quinn completing what has become known as The Unholy Trinity.

Students get out of their way, it's that whole irresistible force thing and even the immovable objects of schools walls or the banks of lockers don't seem to stop the corridors clearing before them. The last person that hadn't gotten out of their way fast enough was still sporting the bruise on his forehead from where it smashed into a locker when Quinn, without breaking stride, placed one hand on his back and shoved, hard.

Santana scans the hallway ahead of them and spots Berry, apparently oblivious to their presence as she searches for something in her locker and the sight of the little diva immediately causes a familiar twist in the bottom of Santana's stomach and a rush of blood to a certain appendage between her legs. This is the first time the Latina has seen Berry since the dreams started and while logic says that the diva has nothing to do with Santana's dreams or physical reaction, all logic goes out the window when she feels herself starting to get hard and at school too.

They happen to be passing a jock that is carrying a slushy and Santana grabs it out of his hand and tosses the straw to the side. Berry is closing her locker and happens to be turning towards the trio as they approach and without hesitation Santana throws the contents of the big gulp cup into her face, dropping the cup in front of the now drenched girl with a smirk before the trio continue towards their destination without even breaking stride.

* * *

Rachel freezes when the cold slush hits her face. No matter how many times it happens the cold slush is always a shock to the system but at least this time she manages to get her eyes shut before the impact. That stuff really stings when it gets in your eyes. She wipes the gunk off her face and turns, accidentally kicking the now empty cup that was sitting at her feet across the corridor, to see the backs of The Unholy Trinity progressing down the corridor.

Of course, it would have to be Santana, now all that Rachel had to worry about was the Latina's motivation. If she just did it for the heck of it, just because she felt like slushying someone, then there wasn't much to worry about. But if Rachel had managed to do something to annoy her, and the little voice inside Rachel's head pointed out that just breathing seemed to annoy the other girl, or worse if she remembered the night of New Year and was pissed about it, then the next week could include a lot of clothes changes for Rachel.

"Well, no t-shirt at least" she mutters to herself.

Rachel turns back to her locker to retrieve her first emergency slushy kit only to be interrupted by a voice.

"I hope you're going to clear up that mess Streisand."

Rachel screws her eyes shut for a second and takes a deep breath, "I think you'll find Coach Sylvester that it is generally the person that makes the mess that is responsible for…" her rambling trails off as she turns and finds herself talking to thin air, the coach being already half way down the corridor and Rachel's wonders if it's going to be a week of staring at other peoples backs.

Her attention back on her locker and on impulse she pulls out the clothes that she usually keeps for her final reserve, the ones that she's never had to use as of yet then turns and makes her way to the locker rooms. There is no one else in the showers when she arrives so for the second time in less than the same number of hours, she stands under the shower allowing the hot water to flow over her body.

Rachel lets her mind wander as she sings quietly in the shower, for once not concentrating on perfecting her performance (because yes even singing in the shower is a performance) but instead her mind returns to the subject she has considered off and on for so long, popularity. It's not that Rachel wants to be popular, that couldn't be further from the truth though she does admit that having people get out of the way for her in the hallways rather than walking into her would be a nice change. But the scrabble to stay on top, the constant looking over your shoulder to make sure no one stabs you in the back… It's not for her.

At least not yet, that will come in New York she's sure.

No, what Rachel desires is the ability to walk down the hallway and have no one pay any real attention to her, the anonymity of the middle class of the school hierarchy, the ones that aren't looked at with awe and respect and fear but aren't targets either. Realistically she knows that given her current position at the bottom of the social pyramid there was only one real way to raise her status that far.

Join the Cheerios.

Advantages and disadvantages. The uniform is like a shield, protecting the wearer from the results of their otherwise usual position just by the act of wearing it, though if Rachel were honest she's a little worried that she would end up being the one Cheerio that didn't benefit from the uniform's effect. And Rachel isn't worried about actually performing, she's sure with her dance training and plenty of practice she could handle anything the Cheerios threw at her. Nor is she worried about the head cheerleader Quinn, the blonde may be a tough leader but she's usually fair unless you really screw up, or she's having a bad day.

No, the main problem with joining Cheerios was Coach Sue Sylvester. The woman was, in Rachel's not too professional opinion, a complete and utter nutcase. Even if you discounted the constant bullhorn enhanced shouting, the weird diet she enforced on the Cheerios and the bazar claims of prior achievements or events, her hate for the Glee club was simply beyond the comprehension of the diva. Though after some consideration Rachel would admit that she may have a point about Mr Shue's hair. And vests.

Once again Rachel fails to arrive at any particular conclusion. She climbs out of the shower and towels herself off, getting dressed in her black skinny jeans and white button down shirt and decides to put her still damn hair up into a pony. The button down isn't see through but Rachel happened to wear a red bra under her sweater that day and you can sort of get a hint of it through the shirt, but the diva decides she likes the effect. Her penny loafers finish off the outfit and while they do look a little odd with jeans, she didn't think to bring any other shoes.

She's twenty minutes late getting to homeroom but the teacher only gives her a sad little smile. They never give her any problems with being late, she's pretty sure they all know why she is but she can never figure out why they never do anything about it. Maybe they're all as far under Sue Sylvester's thumb as the students are under Quinn Fabray's.

Now there is a scary thought.

Rachel surveys the room. Santana and Quinn are sitting in the back row on either side of Brittany as per normal, Quinn writing in what looks to be a journal while Brittany seems to be drawing pictures in one of her own notebooks. Santana is casually filing her nails until Brittany leans over and asks her a question causing the Latina to look up towards Rachel. The diva looks away and heads to her normal seat, thankfully vacant, hoping not to incur any more of the cheerleader's wrath.

* * *

"Who's the new girl San?"

Brittany's question causes Santana to glance up from working on her nails and her mouth drops open a little at the sight before her.

"Um Britt, that's Berry."

The blonde does a little "oh" and returns to her drawing leaving the Latina to size up the little diva. Santana had to admit the transformation was impressive for what was basically just a change of clothes. The black jeans clung to her legs in a way that the Latina thought should definitely be illegal and where did that ass come from? Berry's little skirts couldn't keep that hidden surely? And the hint of red underneath that white shirt… Santana is pretty sure someone is trying to give her a heart attack and doing a damn good job of it too.

She can't help but follow the diva with her eyes as she crosses the room to her seat even while the Latina pretends to return to filling her nails and has to close her eyes for a moment as Berry bends over to sit down. She shifts in her seat as she feels herself start to get hard, she swallows her arousal and focuses on her resentment at Berry for making her feel like this and she's thankful that there is plenty of time between now and the end of the period to give her time to relax.

Now all she has to do is keep her eyes off of Berry.


	3. Chapter 3

Santana often thinks the waiting room looks like an oversized living room with far too many chairs in it but she guesses it's supposed to help those resigned to waiting in it feel comfortable and she isn't about to bitch because sinking into one of those overstuffed sofa's after a long day on her feet is a little piece of heaven on earth.

She's usually the only person here at this time of night except for the odd patient leaving after their appointment because, while Dr Michaels has colleagues who's patients also use this room, Santana's appointment is the last one of the regularly scheduled day. She usually has Cheerios practice and the doctor believes it's very important they work around the Latina's schedule.

And tonight is no different as she's the only one in the waiting room, so she's sitting on her favorite sofa with her white sneakers up on the coffee table (the receptionist has long ago given up trying to stop her doing that), flicking through a gossip magazine someone else has left behind, contemplating if she'll be waiting long enough to make it worth breaking out her iPod and trying not to think about the homework she should probably be using this time to do.

Santana hears a door close along one of the short corridors leading out from the waiting room, not the one leading to Dr Michaels' office, and approaching footsteps and she can't help but glance up over the top of the magazine at the person who rounds the corner into the waiting room.

"Berry?"

The name popped out of her mouth without her intending to say anything but what surprises Santana the most, other than the other girl's presence here of all places, is that she didn't call the diva man-hands or RuPaul or one of the other nicknames she usually uses at school.

"Santana?"

Berry seems to have gone almost as pale as Quinn if that's possible for someone with her complexion and Santana's name comes out of her mouth with a rather surprised squeak. The diva glances around nervously before her eyes come back to rest on Santana and the Latina can see her swallow hard before opening her mouth.

"Don't" Santana snaps interrupting whatever Berry was about to say.

"What?"

"Don't ask what I'm doing here." Santana responds. Berry nods and shifts from foot to foot as her gaze drops to the floor and Santana just rolls her eyes. "If you keep your mouth shut about seeing me here, I won't mention seeing you here."

"I'm not ashamed about going to someone to talk with or seek advice from that isn't a family member Santana and neither should you be." Rachel says.

"And yet" Santana says with a threatening stare as she stands and straightens her uniform skirt, "You're not going to mention this to anyone. Understand?"

The last word comes out as a challenge and just as Berry nods the receptions calls out telling Santana that she can go through to Dr Michaels' office. Santana turns on her heel and marches off towards the doctor's office giving a very thankful Rachel a chance to escape. Santana is a little freaked about seeing Berry here and it's left her a little stressed which means the next hour of interrogation could get… interesting.

Santana knocks on the familiar door of the office but doesn't wait instructions before she enters, crosses the room and throws herself down on another comfortable sofa. The doctor's office has one of those bed like things that she's told some people prefer as well as the doctor's desk and various filing cabinets, but the she prefers the sofa and putting her feet up on the coffee table. The doc's never complained though.

"Good afternoon Santana" Doctor Michaels greets her, "How are you today?"

"Fine" Santana responds.

Normal courtesy would have had Santana inquiring about the doctor's well being, but the Latina so doesn't swing that way, and anyway the doc was paid to listen to her not the other way around. So she didn't ask and the doctor doesn't seem surprised.

"How was your break from school?" She asks.

When Santana just shrugs the doc sighs, "Santana how many times have we gone over this? I get paid for the hour either way so we can sit here and ignore each other or we can talk, but if we don't talk I can't help you and I want to help you."

"Help me!" Santana springs to her feet, "How can you help me?! You've no idea what I'm going through. You aren't a freak like me, stuck somewhere between being boy and girl!"

"Santana" The doctor cuts her off in the middle of her rant, "You're not a freak, you're just different."

"Different is blonde hair instead of black" Santana is more or less shouting now and pacing back and forward in front of the sofa, "blue eyes instead of brown, tall instead of short, thin instead of fat. I'm not different, I'm one hundred percent certified freak."

"This isn't like you Santana." Doctor Michaels says leaning forward in her chair, "Why don't you sit down and tell me what has you all worked up."

Santana rolls her eyes and debates for a moment just leaving, but that would piss her father off and she doesn't need that right now. So she sighs and throws herself back down onto the couch and collects her thoughts.

"It's the dreams, mainly."

"The sex dreams?" The doc asks. When she only gets a begrudging nod from Santana she continues, "I know you are still having them but you haven't complained about them in a long time. Why are these ones different?"

"It's who they're about."

Doctor Michaels raises an eyebrow, "Not Quinn or Brittany?"

Santana shrugs and sighs, "Rachel Berry."

"Rachel Berry…" the doctor repeats flipping through her mental notes, "the captain of the Glee club? The girl you call man-hands, treasure-trail and RuPaul?"

Santana rolls her eyes, "Don't remind me."

"Tell me about them."

"Do I have to?" Santana asks.

"No, but you brought it up so you must want to talk about it."

Santana rolls her eyes again, "It started after the new year party. I guess I crashed in Puck's guest room and I woke up from the most vivid dream I can remember, it was like it was almost real. And it's been happening every night since, without fail."

"And how do these dreams make you feel?"

"Horny and frustrated. I usually wake up hard. All except the first time."

"How was the first time different?" the Doctor asks when Santana pauses.

"I just seemed so real, it was… breath-taking." Santana says shaking her head a little at the memory, "The dreams, they've never felt that real before or afterwards…" she pauses and sighs, "afterwards I felt so good… I don't know, but I guess it's what people would feel like after they actually have sex, like all the tension is unwound and…" she sighs and drops her face into her hands, "I really don't know how to describe it."

"Was Rachel at this party?"

"Yes" Santana confirms

"Did you feel attracted to her when you saw here there?"

"No!" There's a pause in which Santana doesn't look so sure, "I mean, she cleaned up ok and we hung out danced, quite a bit actually."

"How much of the time you were at the party for was Rachel with you or nearby?"

"I don't know… most of it I guess" Santana says with a shrug, "What I can remember anyway."

"What you can remember?"

Santana doesn't say anything but shifts a little uncomfortably in her seat.

"Santana, I shouldn't need to remind you about this but remember that nothing you tell me leaves these four walls."

"There was alcohol, I guess I drank a lot."

Dr Michaels considers her next question carefully. If Santana was drunk and can't remember much more about later in that night, asking her about it would just get the girl frustrated and annoy her and from the doctors previous experience with Santana, that would not be helpful. So she decides to follow a different track.

"Have you seen Rachel since the party?"

Santana nods, "This morning at school."

"And how did that make you feel?"

Santana seems to think about it for a moment then shrugs, "I don't know. I started getting hard and I felt... I felt like I do after the dreams."

"Horny and frustrated?"

Santana just nods.

"What did you do about it?" the doctor asks.

Santana can't help but grin at the memory, "I threw a slushy in her face." She wasn't ready for the chuckle that came from Dr Michaels. Santana can't remember ever hearing the other woman laugh, probably because she thought it was unprofessional or something. "What?" the Latina demands.

"Do you know what little boys do in the elementary school playground to little girls they like?" the doctor asks, when Santana just looks at her blankly she continues, "They pull their hair, they shove and push them, they don't know how to handle their feelings so they try to treat them like they would treat their male friends."

"I do not throw slushies in my friend's faces" Santana points out, "And I'm not behaving like a little boy!"

Santana leans back in the couch looking anywhere but at the doctor because if anyone else accused her of acting like a little boy she'd have gone all Lima Heights on their ass, but she can't do that to the doctor or her Dad would get pissed off at her. The doctor just observes her, waiting.

It takes a few moments but then Santana's brows crinkle as if she's thinking about something, "Wait… Are you saying I like Berry?" When the doctor just nods Santana's eyes widen, "I do not like Berry!" she declares.

"You dream about her at night, you have a physical and emotional reaction to her presence and I do note that you have spoken about her quite a lot during our sessions. I think at some level, possibly at a subconscious level, you do like her and not only do you not know how to deal with it, it frightens you."

"Berry does not frighten me!"

"I didn't say Rachel frightens you, I'm saying your feelings towards her frighten you because you don't know how to deal with them. And maybe you're concerned about her reaction if she finds out about your condition. You remember how you felt when Quinn and Brittany found out?"

It had been at a sleep over at Quinn's house when Santana had been going through puberty. They'd all been in their pajamas watching a movie when Santana started to have an erection, she'd tried to hide it but the other girls had noticed her apparent discomfort and had been curious. It was Britt that had realized what the tent in Santana's pants meant, the girl was nowhere near as dumb as some people thought, and when she'd spoken the words Santana had grabbed her jacket and sneakers and run, literally.

It had taken three hours for her parents to find her, lost and scared in an area of town she didn't know, and in the end when all was said and done, the two girls were more concerned about their friend's safety than anything else and didn't care what was between her legs.

"I do not like Rachel Berry!" Santana declares once again.

Doctor Michaels just nods "If you say so Santana, but I have some homework for you."

Santana rolls her eyes, the doc loved to give out these little tasks and more often than not they were just annoying.

"The next time you see Rachel I want you to stop and take a moment to examine what you feel. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to but I want you to be honest with yourself and if you want to, we can talk about it at your next appointment."

"Fine" Santana huffs, "Whatever."

"And Santana, try not to throw a slushy in her face, okay? She has no influence on the dreams you're having and it's not nice to take your frustration out on her. Especially if you may want to explore any feeling you may or may not have with her later."

Santana just looks pained when the doctor suggests exploring her feelings with Rachel, "I'm not going to be exploring anything with Berry, and I'm not promising anything slushy wise."

Doctor Michaels nods, "Now, have your parents talked to you about the responsibilities of safe sex?" she asks.

"Oh God no" Santana moans dropping her head into her hands.

* * *

As was her habit after visiting the doctors, Santana headed over to Quinn's house to catch up with Quinn and Brittany who would probably be making out with complete disregard to the chance of getting caught by Quinn's mother. That said, since Judy had finally kicked the cheating asshole that called himself Quinn's father, she hadn't been around that much herself so Quinn's chances of getting caught with her tongue down Brittany's throat was probably pretty slim.

There's no answer to Santana's knock on the door as usual so the Latina lets herself in with the hidden key, heads upstairs to Quinn's bedroom and without knocking, throws open the door and steps inside. A few moments later Santana's back in the corridor outside Quinn's room with the door firmly shut behind her, the echo of the slam still reverberating in her ears, and wondering where she can get some mind bleach.

There's some giggling, a little moaning, some whispering and rustling and after a few moments the door behind Santana opens again. The Latina risks a glance to find Quinn standing in the opening of the door wrapped in a sheet.

"So" Quinn says conversationally between licking her fingers, "Britt wants to know if you're going to join us, or wait downstairs." There's a glint in Quinn's eyes that Santana recognizes from when she's enjoying teasing someone, "We've got some condoms too" she adds with a shrug, "Just in case… you know."

Santana just rolls her eyes and starts down the stairs, ignoring the renewed giggles from behind her.

"Don't say we didn't offer!" The blonde calls after Santana, "Oh and you might want to make yourself something to eat, we might be some time." There's some urgent whispering from Brittany and Quinn corrects herself, "We will be some time."

Santana was sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework of all things when Quinn and Britt finally came downstairs. She looks up as the two enter the kitchen and watches as Quinn crossed to the refrigerator.

"I hope you two washed your hands" she observes causing Britt to giggle.

"We showered" Quinn said with her head in the fridge, "And we made sure we were both very, very clean."

Santana can almost hear the smirk in Quinn's voice, "You two are disgusting." She opines.

"Don't say we didn't offer. And we'll remind you how 'disgusting' we are when all you're thinking about is getting your mac on with some poor girl."

"Please, you'd both have freaked if I'd called your bluff." Santana snarks back.

"I guess we'll never know." Quinn pulls her head out of the fridge and head over to the microwave, "How was your doctor's appointment?"

While Santana didn't always share everything about her visits to the doctor with her two blonde friends, she did occasionally discuss part of her conversations with the doctor with them, just to get their input and only because she was sure they wouldn't discuss it with anyone else. She considers if she should tell them about the doc's latest theory and figures that at worst she'll just get a little teasing about it.

"You'll love this." She says with a laugh, "The doc seems to think I've got subconscious feelings for RuPaul."

"What?" Quinn asks trying to suppress a laugh, "Why?"

"Some dreams and the fact I threw a slushy at her today."

"Dreams? You've had sex dreams about man-hands?" Quinn asks, when Santana just shrugs she continues, "Ewww, I thought you had better taste than that."

"I don't know" Britt says as she stares off into the distance while twirling some food that Quinn had made on the end of a fork, "I think she'd look cute if you could get her out of the animal sweaters."

"Whatever" Santana huffs, "It's all bullshit anyway. The doc hasn't got a clue what she's talking about."

Quinn shrugs at Santana's statement and they sit in silence for a few minutes while the two blondes work their way through the food Quinn had dug out of the fridge then they both stood.

"Movie?" Quinn asked.

Santana nods and they all head back up to Quinn's room.

* * *

The next time Santana sees Rachel is at school the next day, the Latina's locker being just down the corridor from the divas makes it pretty much inevitable. Okay so maybe she had to wait a little while at her locker until the diva showed up but it's not like she had anywhere else more important to be, especially after she saw Quinn and Britt sneaking in to a caretaker's cupboard together.

Santana leans against her locker and watches the diva while she tries to examine her feelings as the doc wanted her to. Berry isn't wearing one of her many animal sweaters but a black sweater proclaiming 'love' on the front in various shades of red and purple paired with a seriously short skirt, a pair of knee high socks and penny loafers.

"Always with the knee high's" Santana mutters to herself.

Okay maybe Santana's eyes linger on Berry's legs for a while, how does someone so small have such long legs? And maybe she can appreciate the curve of the diva's ass in that figure hugging skirt, especially when she's up on her tip toes peering into her locker like that, but it doesn't mean she has any feelings for the girl, she just knows how to appreciate a view that isn't exactly ugly.

She's just about persuaded herself of this fact when the lurch Finn walks up behind Berry and tries to put his arm around her shoulders. A pang of jealousy shoots through her chest.

"Oh fuck me."

"I've told you before, not at school San" Quinn says with a smirk, "And why are you staring at Yentel? Try to figure out if she measures up to your dreams?" she teases following Santana's line of sight.

Santana rolls her eyes, turns her back on the little diva and leans against her locker, "I wasn't staring at her, I was just thinking and happened to be facing that direction."

"Uh-huh, sure."

"And shouldn't you still be in the caretaker's closet with another certain blonde or are the pair of you trying to redefine the term 'quickie'?"

Quinn goes even more pale than normal, if that's possible, and desperately glances around to see if anyone hear the Latina. Luckily it seems that no one is paying them any attention so she turns back to Santana and makes do with whacking her on the arm.

"Keep your voice down." She hisses while she glares at the other girl, "Britt remembered she had to go meet with one of her teachers. And anyway Coach Sue wants to see us."

"Oh God, what does that old witch want now?"

Quinn just shrugs and they turn together, strutting down the corridor to the coach's office. They find the Coach ranting into the phone at someone so they kill time waiting in the hall outside, Quinn glaring at anyone who happens to wander past while Santana leans on the wall and files her nails. Just as Santana is about to say screw it and get on with her own life, Coach Sue slams down the phone with a curse and shouts loud enough

"Sandbags! Preggers! Get in here!"

"Why does she keep calling me that?" Quinn asks with a pained look on her face, "I've never been pregnant."

"Because Q, as well as having excellent hearing, I can see the future" Sue says as they step into her office, "And for you, it's almost an inevitability."

Quinn rolls her eyes. The coach had been calling her preggers for months now and Quinn didn't like to think too much of what she had persuaded herself was a coincidence in the timing that represented. Of course when some of the baby Cheerios had heard the coach's new nickname for Quinn a rumour had started circulating that she was indeed with child, a rumour that was promptly and enthusiastically squashed by Santana and eventually by time.

And for once Quinn finally had enough, she was sick of the nickname and she really, really wanted it to stop. And there was only one way she could think of right then to stop it once and for all.

"Coach, I'm gay."

As soon as the words are out of her mouth she feels sick to the pit of her stomach. She can see Santana gaping at her out of the corner of her eye and she can't help wondering if she's just completely screwed up and committed herself to the lowest rung of the social ladder, and possibly worse. Maybe Santana will keep an eye out for her when she's the new head bitch.

What she doesn't expect is the coach's response.

"I know Q and do you know the pregnancy statistics for young lesbians grappling with their sexuality?" Sue leans back in her chair and clasps her hands over her stomach, "So a piece of advice. If you do decide to step out on that little blonde bombshell you call baby, which I'm pretty sure would be a massive mistake, at least use a condom. Okay?" Coach Sue gaze lands on Quinn and the cheerleader finds she can't look away, "I know my Cheerios."

Both Quinn and Santana are staring open mouthed at the coach, who just begins the meeting she had called them there for apparently unconcerned by their reactions.

"Anyway, it seems Seal Team Six is too busy with whatever jack-in-the-box dictator is flavor of the week so some of us have to go and do real work. You two are in charge until I get back, you know the routines and you know the drills. Keep my Cheerios in shape and work them hard till I get back. I trust the two of you not to disappoint me."

"Yes Coach" Santana and Quinn both manage to reply.

"Oh and run some try-outs, we need three more girls. Now get out of here, I have plans to make."

When they are out of the office, Quinn collapses against the wall.

"I hate try-outs, we'll be there hours and none of them will be any good." Quinn complains, "And then we have to train them."

"Really?" Santana asks, her arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow quirked, "That's all you have to say?"

Quinn looks at Santana confused, "What?"

"Quinn, You just came out to Coach Sylvester."

"Yeah" Quinn says vaguely as she stares off into the distance, "I think I need a drink."


	4. Chapter 4

Quinn had been right, try outs were a nightmare. Santana and Quinn had put the signup sheets up pretty much as soon as they had come out of the copier and it didn't take very long for them to fill up, and up, and up. By Monday of the next week it had become obvious that one try-out wasn't going to be enough, so reluctantly they scheduled sessions pretty much every day of the week, sometimes just one hour squeezed between classes when they could, but mostly two hour sessions. Except for Friday's session, this session in fact, this one was going to last as long as took.

Santana was sitting with her feet up on the desk that had been placed at one side of the gym and was paying more attention to filling her nails than to the current wannabe prancing about in front of herself and Quinn. It had taken all of about ten seconds for Santana to write off this particular person and frankly she was wondering why Quinn was allowing it to go on for as long as she had, apparently they had been kicking out people so quickly that it had become a boasting point just to have completed a routine, even if they weren't selected for the squad.

But glancing up at Quinn, Santana could see the twinkle of amusement in the blonde's eye and the Latina glances over at the performer wondering for a moment if she'd missed something that Quinn had seen, just in time to see the girl loose her balance and crash face-first to the gym floor.

Quinn erupts in laughter before leaning towards Santana, "I was waiting for that to happen."

Santana snorts and shakes her head as Quinn verbally chases the girl out of the gym.

"How many more of these do we have to do?" Santana demands of the baby Cheerio that had been manning the door.

She sticks her head outside and shouts back "One more."

"Thank fuck" Santana mutters, her attention back on her nails.

Santana makes a show of ignoring whoever it is that she can hear walking across the gym right until Quinn nudges her.

"Your secret crush is here." The blonde whispers to her.

The Latina's head shoots up and sure enough she finds Berry standing in the middle of the gym looking at them expectantly. It takes a moment for Santana to pull herself together because, along with a red fitted t-shirt, the diva is wearing a pair of black shorts that she's pretty sure should be illegal in all fifty states and has the result of showing off so much leg that Santana wonders for a moment where the girl keeps it all. She's even gotten rid of her knee socks for this event and that just makes things so much worse.

Santana manages to finally drag her eyes away from those legs and those shorts and that's when she realizes that the diva has her hair up in a high pony, just like all the other Cheerios wear it, and for a fleeting moment the image of the girl in uniform doing all sorts of bends and stretches pops unwanted into the Latina's mind. She's suddenly very glad she's wearing her compression shorts underneath her spankies.

"Oh no" Santana says, finally getting hold of herself, "You are not trying out Hobbit!"

"I don't think you have the right to refuse me Santana" Rachel says holding her chin high and meeting Santana's gaze, "The sign-up sheet said anyone could try out."

"The midget has a point." Quinn comments apparently absently, but Santana can hear the amusement in her voice.

Santana grabs the sheets that have been scattered over the table, examines them then smirks in victory, "I don't see your name on the list. If you haven't signed up, you can't try out."

The diva doesn't look phased, "I'm on the back of the last page with the last five girls that have been in here. There wasn't enough space."

Santana turns over the specified sheet and sure enough finds six names on the back, five of which they'd already allowed to try out, so she couldn't even refuse on that basis. So she tries another tactic.

"Fine Hobbit, go ahead. But on your own head be it."

"W-What do you mean?" For the first time the diva doesn't sound so sure of herself.

"We're looking for a base and two flyers and you are too small to be a base." Santana observes trying for an appearance of indifference as she examines her nails again, "So you'd be a flyer. Right Quinn."

"Probably, Jennifer would be first choice for a base anyway." Quinn observes.

Santana looks up at Rachel as if genuinely curious "So do you think a broken nose would affect your voice any?"

Rachel takes an involuntary step back, her hands coming up to her nose and her eyes wide, "You wouldn't!"

Santana shrugs, "Accidents do happen. Why do you think we're holding try-outs?"

Rachel glances to Quinn who just nods. It takes Rachel all of five second to adjust her priorities.

"I think I'll just…" she starts before turning and heading for the door.

Santana watches the diva depart, her eyes drawn to that ass in those tiny shorts until the door closes after them and then sighs in relief.

"So" Quinn says, taking her turn to casually examine her nails, "Why exactly didn't you want Yentl to try out?"

* * *

Honestly Rachel was thankful that Santana had pointed out the folly of joining the Cheerio's. She had been very much in two minds about the whole thing, weighing the increase in popularity to "ignored" status against being under Coach Sue's thumb had been a close call and the only real reason she's went was because she had this nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. She assumed it was the try-outs, but now that was done and dealt with, the feeling hadn't gone away. If she had even thought about the chance of injury and what it could do to her performance ability, she'd never have went in the first place.

She'd changed out of her gym clothes in the locker room and was now heading to her locker to collect her books when she turns a corner and then suddenly backtracks. She peaks around the corner and confirms that, yes; Finn is standing at her locker. Again.

And that's how Santana finds her five minutes later.

"What _are_ you doing Hobbit?"

"Shhhh!" Rachel says pulling back from the corner, "Avoiding Finn."

Santana steps out into the corridor and see Finn standing by the diva's locker, "And why exactly are you hiding from your boyfriend? Well apart from the fact he's a giant idiot, in more ways than one, and has weird puffy pyramid nipples."

"He's not my boyfriend" Rachel hisses, "We broke up before Christmas when he decided playing some stupid computer game was more important that spending time with me. He just doesn't seem to have gotten the message yet."

Santana really doesn't understand why that little piece of information makes her heart thump a little harder in her chest. What does she care if the diva has broken up with the oaf? But it does so she goes with it. Without another word she marches down the corridor and, with very few words and a few threatening hand gestures, chases Finn away.

"You can come out now, he's gone." She calls back to Rachel once she's sure he has indeed gone.

"Thank you Santana, I appreciate it." Rachel tries to thank the Latina but she's gone as well.

* * *

The feeling of having missed something important had been annoying Rachel for the last week. It had started off as a minor niggle but had grown to be almost all encompassing so that when Rachel returned home from school she headed straight up to her room, dug out her planner and started flipping through it.

It was only the third week of January, none of her relatives or friends had birthdays that early in the year and she couldn't have forgotten any assignments already. She flips back a few pages noting nothing out of the ordinary until she got to the new year break which causes her to frown. She wasn't exactly sure what to think of the events of that night and Santana hadn't said anything to her at school or to anyone else as far as Rachel could tell and Rachel wasn't entirely sure that approaching the Latina about it was a good idea. It may be best to let sleeping giants rest.

She flips back a week to the Christmas holidays with a frown, anything this far back probably isn't going to be the problem but she idly flips back one more week and then another. Her eyes land on the red ink marked by one particular day and her stomach drops. She flips forward quickly, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks but nothing. Part of her mind says she just forgot to write it down but in her heart she knows that isn't true and that means she's late, two weeks late.

And that means…

She doesn't remember leaving the house but within minutes she's driving to the Wal-Mart on the other side of town, it wasn't a conscious decision but she knows she can't use the drug store nearby because her father's go there all the time and they know the owner. She can be anonymous at the Wall-Mart though, it will be packed with people just wanting to get what they need and get home, which is exactly what Rachel needs.

She's just about to climb out of her car and head in to the store when she realizes just where she's parked. The store has some reserved slots near the main door specifically for expectant mothers and parents with very young children and she has unconsciously parked in one of those very spots. Rachel can almost feel the blood draining from her face and, heart racing, she puts her car in to reverse and pulls out of the bay, eventually finding a spot well away from the front door and leaving her with a long walk to get to the store.

She grabs a basket at the entrance and wanders around the store collecting some odds and ends, a notepad, some pens, a few herbs and spices she thinks they may be running short of, some deodorant, a new lipstick, a few gossip magazines and two women's magazines that happen to have articles on pregnancy in them. All this shopping accomplishes two tasks, first its camouflage for the real reason she's here and second, it allows her to put off visiting a certain aisle until she really needs to.

She's been down the aisle before obviously, it has all the feminine hygiene products in it, but she's never really paid attention to the pregnancy test section and now she's here she's starting to wonder if she should have done some research before coming over. There turns out to be plenty of different types of test to choose from and for the first time she can remember, the diva is feeling totally unprepared. She's standing with a different test in each hand and staring at even more on the shelves before her when a hand appears in her line of sight pointing to one of the boxes in her hands and the owner speaks.

"That one is the most reliable."

It's almost like Rachel's brain throws up a list of people she wouldn't want to see right now, Santana at the top (beating her fathers only because she might remember the events of new years and put two and two together) followed by her fathers (second equal of course) and circles third place, Quinn.

"It's not for me" she blurts shoving the other packages back on the shelf, "it's for…" she begins before tailing off, unable to come up with someone it could be for.

"One of your Dads?" Quinn asks with an arched eyebrow. "Or maybe Santana's right and the nickname Lady Hummel is appropriate?"

"Quinn… please…"

"So who's the lucky guy that got between your thighs Berry?" Quinn says with a smirk, "Not Finn I guess, rumor has it he has an early arrival problem."

Quinn crosses her arms across her chest and leans against the shelving unit in front of the diva and appraises her closely. Rachel has screwed her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around her body crushing the two tests she was holding in the process and it takes a moment for Quinn to realize that the other girl is actually physically shaking and for some reason the single tear that rolls down the diva's cheek makes Quinn's own eyes burn. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the diva is absolutely terrified.

Quinn sighs and reaches out to places a hand on Rachel's arm which causes the other girl to jump. "What are you scared of Berry, the result or people finding out?"

"Both" Rachel manages to squeak out, "It's bad enough my life may well change… totally." she gasps out between shudders, "Now everyone's going to know before I even have a chance to take the test."

For some reason the smallness of Rachel's voice actually made Quinn's chest ache. She'd never really hated the girl but she'd never really liked her either. She'd bullied, teased and tortured Rachel for years and now, just when she'd been given the ammunition of a life time, some part of her knew she'd never be able to use it.

"Don't worry" she sighs shaking her head a little, "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Why?" the word came out of Rachel's mouth almost instantaneously and was more of a demand than a question.

Quinn pulls the two now crushed test boxes out of Rachel's hands and discards them onto the shelf before picking up and undamaged test and examining it. "Last year I spent an oh-so regrettable and very forgettable night with Puck and a few weeks later I was standing right where you are standing, hoping I wouldn't see anyone I knew."

"But you're…" Rachel blurts and then slams her mouth shut.

"I'm what?" Quinn demands, her face going icy for a moment.

Rachel looks away from the blonde shaking her head, "Nothing."

There's a long pause then Quinn sighs. "People do a lot of things they regret, especially when their trying to figure out… things about themselves." She pushes herself up off the shelf and drops the box into Rachel's basket, "I was lucky and it was negative. But whatever the result of that test Rachel, it's up to you who finds out about it. I may not like you Berry, but even I wouldn't do that to you."

Rachel visibly relaxes as Quinn walks behind her as if about to walk away but then she reappears right next to the diva and whispers in her ear "But I will still find out who got between your legs."

Rachel spins round but Quinn is already strutting away along the aisle.

She doesn't meet anyone else she knows on the way to the checkouts and the girl on the till doesn't even blink as she scans the barcode on the test box. Rachel makes it back to her car and once she gets home she's relieved to find that her father's still aren't back yet, so she heads up to her room and collapses onto her bed still shaking slightly from her encounter with Quinn. She knows a huge collection of exercises that are supposed to help her calm down before she goes on stage, not that she's ever been nervous of performing but its best to be prepared, but the only thing that seems to be helping is time.

Rachel rolls onto her side and the bag containing the test comes into view sitting where she had tossed it onto the bed. She pulls out the test and reads the instructions before grabbing her phone and heading to her bathroom, she needed to pee anyway and she might as well get the whole thing over with so she knows where she stands.

She starts the timer on her phone when she's done and leaves the test readout down on the counter while she paces back and forward in her room, arms wrapped around her body as if to hold herself together. As the second tick past her anxiety grows, until now she's not really had the time to even consider the effect that becoming pregnant would have on her life and she really doesn't know where to start.

She knew she could handle school; she'd have to if she was pregnant since an abortion was not even an option as far as Rachel was concerned. No matter how many slushies she received or how people talked about her behind her back, the names she would be called or the looks she would receive, she would hold her head up and get through it for the sake of the baby.

But what about after the birth? She would have to choose between her child and her dream of Broadway and even though she didn't actually know if she was pregnant yet, just the thought of giving up her child made her feel sick. Many people would probably tell her that adoption was a sensible and reasonable answer to the issue, a proper family would be able to look after and provide for the child better then she herself could even with her fathers' help, but that didn't stop just thinking about it make her feel like someone was tearing out her heart.

She couldn't go to NYADA on her own with a child, she'd be lucky if she could make it to Ohio State or even the Lima community college. The thought of giving up her dreams of New York and Broadway felt just as bad as the thought of giving up her child and for a moment Rachel hates herself for even feeling that way and she wonders if she is even fit to be a mother.

And Santana was another problem. If Rachel was pregnant she'd have to tell the Latina since she was technically the father. Would the Latina believe her? The diva doesn't know if she even remembers the events of the party never mind the events afterwards in Puck's guest room. Rachel doesn't remember it all and at least she had the benefit of waking up in bed with the other girl to jog her memory.

The alarm on her phone goes off which causes her to stop in her tracks and derails her train of thought. She stands for a few moments staring at the door to the bathroom before she final gathers the courage to step into the smaller room. Her hand is shaking as she reaches out to pick up the stick, she pauses to take a breath, then for the moment of truth, she turns the test over.

Pregnant.

Conjecture becomes reality it feels like the bottom has fallen out of her stomach and her world. Her free hand goes straight to her stomach as if she can already feel the baby growing inside her and unseeing, she manages to take the few steps to her bed before collapsing on it and curling into a ball with the test still gripped tightly in her hands and held close to her heart. It doesn't take long for the tears to start.

* * *

She doesn't know how longs it has been but at some point she must have dozed off since the new text alert on her phone wakes her up.

Noah: Ur l8. R U comin Ovr 4 gAms night?

Rachel sighs and rolls her eyes, Puck knows how much she hates text speak but he will insist on using it when he texts her. Puck and Rachel had started hanging out together many years before when they met at temple. There weren't many Jewish families in Lima and even fewer had children her age, so it had become sort of inevitable that the two of them would end up hanging out and they had managed to keep their friendship even after Puck started acting like… well, Puck.

It had been Puck not Finn that had introduced Rachel to computer games and while they weren't something she dedicated a lot of time to playing, she did enjoy playing with Puck. At least he treated her like an equal, working with her when they played online unlike Finn who had, the few times they played, told her what to do all the time. So once a week they got together after school and alternated between playing computer games, watching movies, playing board games or numerous other pastimes that they both enjoyed. This week was the turn of the computer games.

Rachel: I am sorry, I dozed off. I will be there shortly.

She didn't feel much like going but she knows Puck will probably come over anyway if she tries to blow him off so she sits up and discovers the test still sitting on the bed where she had been lying and the slightly nauseated feeling returned. She figured she'd probably have to get used to that, Rachel didn't know much about how pregnancy had affected her mother but she did know that some amount of morning sickness was pretty much universal.

The test is pushed into her purse since Rachel didn't want to leave it lying around her room, before the diva heads out to Puck's.

* * *

"Okay, what the fuck is wrong Rachel?"

Puck hit pause and the game froze after achieving a headshot against Rachel's character that he would never usually have been able to make, the diva might not rate computer games highly in her list of go-to recreational activities, but that didn't mean she was bad at them either.

"Nothing is wrong Noah" Rachel says as her hands and the controller she's holding drop into her lap, "I just have a few things on my mind."

"Want to talk about it?" Puck wasn't usually one for talk, but when something was bothering his best friend, he'd do anything for her.

"No" Rachel shakes her head.

Puck looks at her for a moment before accepting her statement and turning back to the game and unpausing it. It's less than five minutes before the game is paused again, this time by Rachel's hand, and Puck is looking at her just waiting.

Rachel returns his gaze for a long moment trying to decide if she can trust him. They've been friends almost for as long as she can remember and she knows he'd do whatever he could for her but he's never been a great one to keep secrets, though he never gave them away deliberately. And right now she really needs someone she can tell, someone she can talk to.

Like a mother.

But she doesn't have one of those. Oh sure there's Shelby but she pretty much ran away when she realised that Rachel wasn't the cute little baby girl that she had always dreamed about but a mature young woman. A mature young woman who right now wants nothing more than a mother hold her and tell her everything's going to be alright.

And for the first time it hits her. Shelby had no choice but to give her up, she'd signed a contract, known it was coming from the start and still hadn't been able to detach herself from her daughter. And now Rachel was going to have to make the choice, keep her child or give it away. A wave of nausea kit her and the diva, the mother-to-be, wasn't sure she how she could live with either choice.

"Have you ever done something… something so small and insignificant that you didn't really think about it, only to find later that it's changing the path for your whole life?"

She looks up from where her eyes had fallen to her hands hoping to see understanding in Puck's features, but he just looks confused.

"No" she sighs, "Of course not."

She doesn't know why, but she reaches for her purse and extracts the test before handing to Puck. He takes it automatically and his confused expression deepens until he realizes what he's holding and what it means.

"Finn?" he asks. Rachel just shakes her head so he adds "Who?" When Rachel says nothing Puck looks at her with a worried expression, "Rachel, did someone force you…"

"No!" she cuts him off quickly then sighs, "We were both rather intoxicated but it was consensual on both sides."

"Who was it Rachel?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" Puck exclaims, "Someone is going to be a father and he needs to man up and face his responsibilities!" He takes a breath and asks more calmly, "Have you even told him?"

Rachel shakes her head, "No, I only just took the test."

"Wait, you just peed on this?" Puck says dropping the stick, "Ewwww."

Rachel can't help but giggle at Pucks reaction as she retrieves the test and places it back into her purse and she wonders if that was exactly the reaction Puck was looking for.

"It's Santana." Rachel says quietly.

"What?"

"The father, its Santana."

Puck sighs and throws himself back onto his bed, "If you don't want to tell me that's fine, but don't lie to me Rach. I may not have a 4.0 GPA but I know it takes at least one dude to make a baby."

Rachel makes Puck swear an oath of secrecy then tells him the rough details about the New Year party and explains Santana's condition, which leaves him wide eyed and speechless. For a while they both just lay there on Puck's bed staring up at the ceiling until Rachel breaks the silence.

"I don't know what to do."

Puck considers this for a while, "Have you told your fathers?" he asks.

"Not yet, I'm not sure how to tell them. They'll be so disappointed."

"The longer you wait, the harder it will be to tell them Rach and it'll hurt them to know you felt you had to hide it from them. They'll stick by you even if they are a little disappointed, you know that right? You mean everything to them. Treat it like ripping off a plaster, get it out there and get it over with. That's my advice anyway."

Rachel nods, pushing herself up from the bed, "Okay, I guess that makes sense."

"And Rach, you know I'm here for you, whatever you need."


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel got as far as her driveway before her courage started to desert her. The living room light was on and her fathers would be sitting on the sofa together watching some trashy reality show she knew they loved. She was scared; it was as simple as that. Her life had already changed, her plans wrecked, her future a giant question mark and though she knows in her mind that her fathers will support her, her heart had taken so much of a beating in the last few hours that for a moment she doubts even them.

Her mobile is in her hand before she even realizes and she's already speed dialed Puck, "I can't do this…" she breathes as he answers the call.

"You can Rach" Puck's voice comes out of the small speaker, "Your Dads love you, they will always love you no matter what. You know that."

"What if they don't, what if they kick me out?"

Puck sighs down the line at her, "They would never do that Rach, your Dads aren't like that and we both know it. They'll still love you no matter what."

"But…"

"They won't kick you out" Puck interrupts, "But you'll always have a place here if you need it."

"I'm scared." Rachel says after a moment, her voice matching how she felt.

"I know Rach, it's understandable." There's a short pause while neither of them speaks, "Do you want me to come over and sit with you while you tell them?" Puck offers.

"No" Rachel's shaking her head even though Puck can't see her; "They might get the wrong idea."

"Then go tell them Rach. If you need to, just show them the test. They'll work it out."

"Okay" Rachel agrees.

"And call me later okay?

"Okay"

The phone goes back into her purse and she produces her house keys, opening the front door and stepping inside and is immediately greeted by her fathers who are, as she thought, watching some odd reality TV show.

"Hi Honey"

"Hi Baby"

"Hi Dad, Hi Daddy."

"Your home early Honey" Her Daddy says as she crosses to living room to perch on the front one of the armchairs, "Did Noah get sore at you beating him at his own computer games again?" He asks with a grin.

"No Daddy, I came home because I had to talk to you about something… important."

The television is switched off almost instantly and she knows she has both her Dad and Daddy's full attention, she always did when she had something important to discuss with them. She can feel her heart thumping in her chest and she can't pull her eyes away from the purse she is gripping in her lap, and the test that it contains within. Another wave of nausea swells through her and she knows she has to get the worst over with before she throws up all over the living room carpet.

"I'm pregnant."

She manages to force the words out of a throat that feels like its closing up but she doesn't manage to stop the tears that are flowing from her eyes or the sobs that wrack her body. Then strong arms surround her and the next moment she's sitting on the sofa between her fathers who are both holding her and crying with her and telling her everything is going to be okay and for the first time since she flipped through her planner which was only a few hours ago but feels like years to her, she knows she's going to be okay.

It takes them all a while to compose themselves and while Rachel knows there are questions coming, she doesn't feel as scared as she did not five minutes before. Her life may change, will change, possibly beyond recognition, but she has her fathers and her best friend and they'll make it through together.

It's her Hiram that finds his voice first, "Sweetheart, are you sure?"

Rachel nods and with still shaky fingers unzips her purse, producing the test and passing it to her father, "I've only taken that and I know there is a tiny chance they can be inaccurate."

Hiram nods looking down at the test in his hand, "I'll call the doctor tomorrow and arrange an appointment."

"Baby, what happened?" LeRoy has found his own voice now.

Rachel sniffs and accepts the tissue that Hiram hands to her, "It was at the New Year party. I was drunk… we were both drunk" Rachel corrects herself when LeRoy looks like he's going to interrupt, "We were dancing and it got pretty heated so we split up but later we ended up going upstairs and… well, things sort of happened from there."

"Rachel, did he force you to…?"

"No" Rachel says quickly, shaking her head vehemently, "It was consensual on both sides, no one forced me to do anything, if anything I encouraged… him" Rachel grimaces a little at the use of the male pronoun for Santana, but anything else would just cause more questions that she didn't want to answer right now.

"He should have used a condom." LeRoy grumbles obviously angry at whoever 'he' was.

"And I should have made sure the father used protection, you've both taught me that it is as much my responsibility as anyone else's. So if you're going to be angry at the father, you should be angry at me too."

"Still…" LeRoy starts, only to be interrupted by Rachel.

"He tried…" Rachel takes a deep breath, "I was on top and he tried to push me off him when he was going to… you know." She gestures randomly with her hand and both men nod, "But I didn't let him."

Over the weeks following the New Year party, Rachel had been remembering the events of that night, including Santana warning her to get off and Rachel refusing to. She also remembered calling Santana beautiful, a fact she wouldn't argue with even now, and the feeling of the other girl coming inside her, which had caused the diva to lock herself in her room and slide her hand between her legs for the first time ever.

"Who was it?" LeRoy asks rather bluntly and from his expression Rachel can tell immediately why he wants to know.

She shakes her head, "I think for the moment it would be best if I kept that to myself, the situation is rather… complicated and I really don't need you getting into trouble for confronting him."

"I…" LeRoy begins

"No Dad, I know that look. You were planning something and it's not going to happen. End of discussion."

"He needs to be responsible for his actions!" LeRoy declares stubbornly "He needs to do the right thing!"

"I haven't even told him yet!" Rachel snaps, "And I don't know if I want him to have anything to do with it… like I said it's complicated. So while I might tell you in the future" she continues as LeRoy attempts to interrupt, "I'm not going to tell you now. End of discussion."

After a few moments of silence that seemed to be the end of that part of the discussion, Rachel decided to address the issue that was the elephant in the room. "Now, you both know my feelings on abortion, so if I am pregnant I hope you can both accept that a termination isn't an option for me." She pauses and both men nods, "However that is the only decision I've made so far and I think we have plenty of time before any decision about adoption" her voice breaks a little on the last word and she clears her throat, "needs to be made."

"Plenty of time Sweetheart" Hiram agrees and LeRoy nods.

Rachel takes a breath, her eyes fixed on her hands still folded in her lap, "I know I've disappointed you, I never meant this to happen quite obviously." She shakes her head, "I am so sorry" she says quietly.

"Don't" its LeRoy that speaks, Hiram is too busy tearing up again, "Don't think you've disappointed us baby, you can never disappoint us." He takes a calming breath, "All you need to worry about right now is taking care of yourself and the baby. Okay?" Rachel nods and LeRoy sighs, "Well, I guess we'll need to get prepared for morning sickness, weird cravings and an insatiable need for batteries, though I never worked out what that last one was about." LeRoy says and climbs to his feet, "But right now I need some Coffee. How about you two?"

"Not for Rachel" Hiram says causing a squeak of objection from the girl, "She has to watch her caffeine intake now; too much is not good for the baby."

"Fine" Rachel huffs crossing her arms over her chest and slumping back on the sofa, "I'll have orange juice please." LeRoy heads towards the kitchen and Rachel turns to Hiram, "Batteries?"

Hiram chuckles to himself, "Your mother developed certain physical cravings that two gay men couldn't satisfy. The batteries were for the alternative."

"Do you mean…?" Rachel asked, eyes widening when Hiram nodded, "How come you know and Dad doesn't?"

"Who do you think bought the replacement when she wore one out? By that point your Dad would hardly let her out of the house and we didn't have the internet back then." Hiram stands and starts to head through to the kitchen to see what was keeping LeRoy but then pauses thoughtfully and pulls out his wallet passing a credit card to a confused Rachel, "You might want to buy yourself a few alternatives yourself, just in case."

"Daddy!" Rachel exclaims glad no one can see her face flush.

"And buy some rechargeable batteries!" Hiram calls over his shoulder.

Rachel's eyes flick between the retreating form of her father and the credit card he handed her, her brow furrowed in thought for a moment before a grin spread across her lips and she jumped up to head up to her bedroom and find her laptop.

* * *

Hiram finds LeRoy in the kitchen, his shoulders shuddering as he silently sobs over the sink and walks up behind him, wrapping his arms around his husband's shaking body.

"Our little girl…" LeRoy manages through his sobs.

"I know…"

LeRoy turns in his arms, returning the other man's hug and resting his head on Hiram's shoulder, "What are we going to do?"

"We're going make sure she's healthy and happy, and that the baby is healthy and happy and we're going to be there for her whatever she need and whenever she needs it. We'll advise when we can and accept the decisions she makes that we don't agree with, because you know that will happen." He releases LeRoy from the hug and steps back, his hands running up and down his arms, "But most of all we'll be there for her because she's still our little girl and now more than ever she needs us to be her fathers."

LeRoy nods, accepting the handkerchief offered by Hiram and drying his eyes, "She's going to want to keep it you know."

"We don't know that yet, she doesn't know that yet."

"I do know. She doesn't even know for sure if she's is pregnant yet and she could hardly say the word adoption, you heard her too." LeRoy pointed out.

"Yes, I know" Hiram agreed, "But to put the child up for adoption or not is her choice, not ours. And whatever she chooses, we should support her."

"But what about her dreams? What about NYADA and Broadway?" LeRoy demands, "All her life that has been her goal, her dream and she could do it, we both know she has the talent and drive. She could be the best there ever was but can she with a child? Especially without the child's father?"

Hiram shakes his head, "I don't know… I really don't know. But in the end it is her choice and I'm sure she'll take all of those things into consideration and we can talk to her about it too. But I'm not going to force her to give up the child because she'd hate me for the rest of her life, you know she would. And when she tells us who the father is, we can make sure he steps up and does his share."

* * *

"So when are you going to tell her?" Puck asks.

Its Monday lunch time and Rachel and Puck are standing at Rachel's locker in school. He'd been hanging around her all day and had even intercepted a slushy attempt much to the surprise of the football player that had intended to deliver it. It made a change that it was the football player that headed off for the shower after a slushying.

"After I get it confirmed." Rachel says glancing around to make sure no one is listening, "Dad texted me to let me know I have an appointment on Wednesday and if they decide to do a blood test, it'll take a few days to get a result. I'm not going to tell her I may be and then have to tell her I'm not."

"Are you sure that's wise? She's going to be pissed off if she thinks you kept it from her."

"Do you really think she's not going to be pissed off anyway?" Rachel queries with a raise eyebrow, "And are you really going to hover over me all the time? People are going to start to talk you know, and when it does get out your going to end up as the prime suspect you know."

"Doesn't matter, I'm not going to let people push you around in your condition." Puck says stubbornly.

Rachel sighs and turns to him, "Look, a slushy or two isn't going to hurt me and I'll survive a few harsh words. I'll be fine Noah; you don't have to baby me."

Eventually she persuades Puck that she'll be okay even if he doesn't look over her shoulder all day and he says goodbye, heading off somewhere just in time for Quinn to find her in the corridor.

"Well?" the blonde asks.

"I'm sorry Quinn; I'm not sure what you're asking."

"You know fine well RuPaul, the test." Quinn hisses. "What was the result of the test?"

"And if you think calling me names will encourage me to share any personal information with you Quinn, I'm afraid you're very mistaken." Rachel says turning from her locker to walk away.

"You should be afraid Berry, I will find out!" Quinn calls after here with a sneer.

Santana has just walked up behind Quinn with Brittany and only heard Quinn's last comment. "Find out what?" she asks curiously.

"Nothing, just something Berry wants to keep to herself." Quinn shrugs, "Come on, we should get to class."

* * *

Glee club came around and once again Santana allowed herself to be dragged along by Quinn and Brittany. Okay, it may have been true that she actually enjoyed it when she got a chance to sing, but she's not going to admit that to anyone, at least not again. So she's sitting in the choir room in the back row with Quinn and Brittany pretty much making out next to her and about melting because the heating in here seems to be stuck on the blast furnace setting.

Of course Mr Shue is late, that's not really news, but so is Berry and she's not sure how she feels about that. She does like listening to the girl sing although that's another thing she's never ever going to admit to, but not having to listen to her talk and talk and talk is a bonus.

Rachel finally arrives just before Mr Shue, who immediately launches into some lecture that Santana tunes out just as quickly, and sits in the first seat she comes to that is empty, a seat that happens to be just in font and to one side of Santana. It's obvious to Santana that the diva has been slushied at least once today since she's had a change of clothes, not that Santana notices what Rachel is wearing, but the dampness of the girls hair makes the Latina realize that the slushy was probably the reason she was late for Glee club.

The Latina swallows thickly and tries not to imagine the diva in the shower.

It seems like Santana isn't the only one that is bothered by the heat because those who can are taking off any spare layers of clothing they have, including Rachel who has taken off her cardigan revealing the white silk tank top she was wearing underneath. Santana's eyes seem to be drawn to the thin fabric and the hint of bra that can be seen underneath, white this time to match the garment it's mostly hidden by.

When she realizes she's been staring at the diva like a creep for the best part of the last ten minutes Santana tries to drag her eyes away, but something catches her eye. A small scar on Rachel's shoulder just above the shoulder blade and exactly where Santana's dream said it would be.

"Fuck"

She didn't mean to let the word slip out, in fact she didn't even realize she had until she glances up and finds everyone looking at her.

"Is there something you wanted to share Santana?" Mr Shue asks.

"Yeah, it's as hot as fuck in here so how about we wind whatever the hell your yacking about up and let us get out of here before we melt."

Santana congratulated herself on her quick thinking, especially since most people seemed to be agreeing with her. Mr Shue did finally wind up his lecture and told everyone to remember the assignment for the week, of which Santana had no clue and couldn't care less about, she just had to get out of the choir room and get out now. She's the first out of the door and into the cooler air of the corridor but even the sigh of relief that this produces doesn't make her break step and within moments she's in her car. Screw Cheerios practice, Coach Sylvester still wasn't back and Quinn would cover for her, even if she did bitch about it later.

But seeing that scar on the back of Berry's shoulder had started a chain of thought what was heading in a direction that Santana wasn't sure she liked. The scar was real, the scar _from her dream_ was real and if that was real, what else? Okay so it could be a coincidence, it's possible she's seen the scar before and never really noticed, it was on a place on the diva's body that someone could see casually after all. But Santana was pretty sure she hadn't seen it before, she couldn't remember ever seeing the girl in anything that didn't cover her shoulders before and she wouldn't have today but for the overbearing heat.

So what else was real? The mole on Rachel's hip? There's no way anyone could have seen that without taking off the diva's panties which means Santana couldn't have happened to see it in passing, but it also made it impossible to verify, she doubted the diva happily drop her panties so Santana could have a look.

Santana almost swerves off the road at the mental image of Rachel standing before her, pushing her panties down over her hips and down those legs until they drop to the floor…

"Jesus…"

But there's one thing from the dream she can check, something that had never even occurred to her until she'd seen the scar on the diva's shoulder. She remembers, whether from a dream or from real life she's not sure, watching a totally naked Rachel push something into the side pocket of her purse. She can't remember what, she was watching the girl giggle rather than watching what she was doing, but when she had gotten home Santana had fished out her keys, phone and cash and tossed the purse into her closet with the rest of her extensive collection. The contents of that side pocket would tell her if the dream was a dream or if it was something more.

Her parents aren't home, no surprise there, so she head straight up to her room and over to her closet. Santana isn't messy per se, but she does have a large collection of purses and a habit of just tossing them into her closet when she gets back from a night out, and given that it's been over three weeks since the new year the purse she thought would be sitting on the top of the pile is nowhere to be seen. She sighs as she eyes her collection wondering just how much money she would find if she actually went through them all.

Santana almost dives into the pile, literally throwing purses over her shoulder to crash into the clothes and shoes on the other side of her closet until she finally finds the purse she's looking for. She pulls it out and sits on the edge of her bed toying with the zip and she's not entirely sure what she wants to find when she opens the compartment. If it's empty, like it should be since she never uses the side compartments in any purse, then the dream was just that, a dream. If there's something in there, how would she know if it was Rachel or someone else that put it there?

Santana ignores the fact that her hand is shaking a little as she pulls back the zip and then she frowns as her fingers come out holding some fabric. She drops the purse, after checking there was nothing else inside, then uses both hands to straighten out the crumpled fabric, finally realizing what she was holding.

Panties.

Rachel's panties.

Rachel's panties that she could now clearly remember watching the girl sliding down her long legs and giggling while she shoved them into the Latina's purse before lying down naked next to her on the bed. On the bed that they very shortly thereafter had sex on.

"Fuck me."

It's like a door is opened in Santana's brain and Santana falls back onto the bed as all the memories come rushing through, the drinking, the dancing, the grinding, the whole strap-on misunderstanding, how very close she came to ripping the diva's clothes off right there on the dance floor. Then going upstairs and if the dream had been realistic, the memory of Rachel straddling her as she impaled herself on Santana's shaft was just something else entirely.

Just remembering it causes her heart to race, her head to spin and gives her a pretty much instant erection which is so uncomfortable when contained within her compression shorts that she has to remove both them and her spankies. She falls back onto the bed with a sigh of relief then raises her head to glare at her hardened member that is now sticking up between the panels of her Cheerios skirt.

"Traitor!"

* * *

By the time Santana answers the front door to Quinn's pounding, her mother is nowhere to be found and her father is probably still at work, she's spent half an hour in the shower after covering her stomach with her own come in an orgasm so strong that it left her breathless for five minutes and is now dressed in sweats and a t-shirt.

"Where the fuck did you go?" demands Quinn as she pushes past Santana and heads to the kitchen, "I had to tell the squad you were off spying for us!" she calls over her shoulder.

Santana sighs and gestures for Brittany to enter, then closes the door behind her and follows both blondes through to the kitchen, where Quinn already had her head in the fridge.

"Help yourself why don't you Q…" Santana mumbles.

"Thanks, will do" comes Quinn's voice from the fridge, "So?"

Santana contemplates for a very short amount of time telling the two girls about her realization and returning memories from the night of New Year, but something tells her that she should keep this to herself for the moment. She hadn't actually gone to her doctor's appointment; calling up to cancel claiming she got held up at Cheerios practice, but Quinn didn't know that.

"I had an early appointment at the doc's" She shrugs, "I thought I mentioned it."

Quinn looks up from where she is now making her specialty, peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwiches. "Just remember to tell me in future." She sighs.

"So what the fuck are the two of you doing over here?" Santana asks stealing one of the snacks, "Not that you aren't welcome." She adds with a shrug.

"Mom's home, packing for some retreat she's going on." Quinn supplies handing another sandwich to Brittany, "So we came here till she was gone."

"She almost walked in on us making out." Brittany says around a mouthful of bread, "So we came over here so you could watch us make out." she adds with a wink.

Santana just rolled her eyes and followed the pair as they headed through to the living room to snuggle up on the sofa in front of the television. The Latina pushed a DVD into the machine, ignoring the other two's requests since she knew they weren't going to watch it anyway, and settled into the one of arm chairs. Sure enough before the movie titles have even passed, the pair on the sofa are paying more attention to each other than anything else and Santana watches them for a moment, her mind going back to the last time she went into Quinn's room without knocking first.

The simple thought of Berry on top of her made her heart race and her cock hard, but when invited by two near naked girls to join them for a threesome and she hadn't even twitched.


	6. Chapter 6

Tuesday is not a normal day for either girl. Santana is in an unusually grumpy mood and even the Cheerios realized reasonably quickly that they ought to stay out of the Latina's way unless they wanted to be stepped on, hard. Everyone is avoiding Santana.

Rachel on the other hand is quieter than normal, no offering answers during class, no singing quietly as she walks the hallways and while she does go to the auditorium at lunch, she doesn't climb onto the stage to practice but sits in the front row staring up with tears in her eyes as if watching a performance. No one notices.

When Santana comes face to face with Rachel in one of the hallways between classes, the diva can't help but cringe and drop her head as she waits for the torrent of names and insults she's sure she'll receive having been forewarned about the Latina's terrible mood. In the process she can't help but glance in the direction of the other girl's crotch even though anything that might be visible under the Latina's spankies is well hidden by her skirt.

But when Santana's mouth opens, nothing comes out. They both stand there for a moment, the Latina unable to say anything to the girl before her and then she huffs and spins on a heel to walk away in the opposite direction. Rachel watches her go for a moment before heading in the same direction, her original direction, trying to avoid watching the Latina's ass sway from side to side just in front of her.

Of course no one is oblivious to Santana's bad mood though most are oblivious of the interaction between her and Rachel, most but not Quinn who observes the incident with interest.

"So what's with you and Berry?" she asks hands on hips and towering over the sitting Latina when she finds her momentarily alone in the Cheerios lounge before the last class of the day.

"No idea what you're talking about." Santana tries to sound casual as she continues to flick through the magazine she's reading, but fails miserably.

"You've been a bitch all day, you've made half the baby Cheerios cry and some of the seniors too, you've ordered more slushies in one day than in the whole of last month and all it takes is for someone to look at you for you to bite their head off and yet when you almost run in to Berry and nothing." Quinn observes, "You ended up doing a rather amusing impression of a goldfish." She adds with a smirk.

Quinn throws herself down on the sofa next to Santana, "I know you've got a thing for Berry, but what's got you so pissed off?"

"I don't have a thing for Berry."

"No?" Quinn asks in an amused tone, "So the sex dreams are nothing, the staring at her legs and ass is nothing? And don't deny it, I've seen you!" Quinn says as Santana tries to interrupt, "Talking about me and Britt needing to be subtle, you need to take your own advice." Quinn says with a smirk. "And oh yes, the desperate need to keep her off the Cheerios maybe because you thought you might not be able to restrain yourself from ripping her spankies off and taking her right there in the hallway if you have to watch her walking about in one of these little skirts is nothing?"

Santana doesn't react and Quinn observes that the Latina seems to be off in a world of her own, "Your thinking about that last one right now, aren't you?" she asks.

Santana blushes.

"Look, it is okay to like her Santana. Whether it's just a crush or true love, the heart wants what it wants. And I bet she looks pretty hot if you can get her out of those sweaters."

"She does." Santana says before she can stop herself them slams her mouth shut and hopes Quinn doesn't pick up on that.

Quinn turns to Santana with an eyebrow raised, "She does?" she asks.

"I mean…"

"Santana…" the warning tone in Quinn's voice sounds too much like her mothers and makes Santana cringe.

"Okay fine" Santana huffs, "I slept with her."

This causes both of Quinn's eyebrows to reach for her hairline, "Slept? As in, two people happen to be in the same bed and doze off together or as in two people happen to be in the same bed and fuck each other into oblivion?"

Santana's grin says it all.

"Yeah, the second one, I get it." Quinn says, "Well, so much for Britt's plan."

"Britt's plan?" this time its Santana's turn to look at the head cheerleader questioningly, her embarrassment momentarily forgotten.

"Um…" Quinn's face turns a very bright shade of red, "She thought you might appreciate someone safe, you know… for your first time. Someone you knew and already knew about your condition."

Suddenly all of the playful hints, teasing and joke invites make a whole lot more sense to Santana and she's rather surprised at the gratitude she feels to the two girls, "Britt or…?"

"Either" Quinn shrugs, "Both, whoever you chose really. The idea was for you to be comfortable."

"But your gay, I get Britt being okay with the idea since she's bisexual, but you don't like guys. Why would you…?"

Quinn rolls her eyes, "You're not exactly a guy Santana."

The girls sit next to each other both staring off into the distance lost in their own thoughts until the end of period bell rings. A look of surprise slowly spreads over Quinn's features.

"When did this little liaison with Berry happen?" she asks.

"At Puck's New Year party?"

"So that sex dream…?"

"Wasn't actually a dream." Santana confirms, "I saw a scar on her shoulder on Monday and that reminded me of something else, then it was like a trapdoor opening and all the memories falling through."

"Well that's one way to start the year with a bang." Quinn's attempt at humor falls flat but she doesn't care as she stands and heads out of the lounge, "I need to head to class, catch you later."

Quinn needed to find Berry, now.

* * *

The doctor's office waiting room is comfortably familiar and welcoming. This isn't the doctor she sometimes visits on a Monday but the medical doctor that has looked after her from before she was even borne, the doctor that is more of a friend to the family than someone they see when they are ill. Not that Rachel has been ill a lot, quite the contrary apart from the usual check-ups and inoculations every child has and the occasional sore throat or ear ache, the diva hasn't had much cause the visit the doctor.

But the familiarity doesn't ease her nerves as she sits with her Daddy waiting for her name to be called. It seems the doctor is running a few minutes late with her appointments and while Rachel appreciates that the doctor would rather give her patients the care they need rather than rush them out the door to stay on time; it does nothing to reduce her anxiety.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Hiram asks.

In the past one of her fathers had always come into the doctor's office with her but she's turned sixteen now (if only by a month) and with the possibility of a pregnancy, her fathers had to accept that she was more of a young lady now rather than their little girl and able to make her own decisions. With their advice of course.

Rachel glances towards the short corridor that leads to the consulting rooms, her lower lip caught between her teeth as she considers her options, "No thank you Daddy, I-I think this is something I have to do myself."

Hiram nods and silence falls between them once again as they both sit and ignore the out of date magazines on the coffee table in front of them. Rachel is at least thankful that her appointment was in the middle of a general session and not one specifically for expecting mothers, she wasn't sure she could handle that yet waiting in a room surrounded by other pregnant woman at this point but looking around right now, pretty much the whole of Lima was represented in this room.

"Rachel Berry, Room five!" a nurse calls.

The doctor isn't in the room when Rachel arrives but only a few moments later the door opens and the doctor comes in.

"Ah Rachel, good to see you again." the doctor says flicking through her notes, "Not another sore throat again I hope?"

"No, not a sore throat." Rachel confirms as she shifts nervously in her chair.

The doctor flips through the notes then looks over the top of her glasses at Rachel, "A pregnancy test?" Rachel nods and the doctor returns to her notes though the diva doesn't miss the sadness that crosses the doctor's features, "One of your dads made the appointment…"

"Yes" Rachel confirms with a nod, "They know."

The doctor lets out a sigh that causes Rachel to flush but doesn't say whatever she's thinking. "I assume you've done a urine test?" she asks to which Rachel nods, "So we'll do a blood test then. Can you roll up a sleeve please?"

The doctor draws blood quickly and efficiently and Rachel hardly even notices when the needle slips into her arm, not that she's bothered by needles away.

"Okay, I'll take this down to our lab and we'll have the results in five minutes."

"That quickly?" Rachel asks surprised, "I thought you'd have to send it away…"

Honestly Rachel had been banking on a few days between have the blood taken and getting the results, maybe even not hearing until next week, because until those results came back, until a doctor told her she was pregnant or not, there was still a chance the home test could be wrong, a slim chance that her life may not be about to change totally.

"We have the equipment here to do some basic common blood tests and this one is about as common as you can get." The doctor explains, "If you'll wait here, I'll be right back." She says before exiting the consulting room.

Rachel was left alone in the bland room, not even an out of date magazine to keep her company. Time seemed to drag as her eyes roamed the walls searching for something, anything to distract her mind from the coming moment of truth. In the end she pulls out her phone and tries to lose herself in one of the many videos she has of Barbra's performances before she remembers that this too was her dream, a dream that may no longer be possible.

Eventually the doctor returns with a large sheaf of documents in her hand. It had probably only taken a few minutes as promised but to Rachel it felt like an eternity had passed and each moment had increased Rachel's level of nervousness as it had passed.

"Okay Rachel" the doctor says taking a seat opposite the Diva, "you're test has come back positive so I've…"

"Is it possible that test is wrong?" Rachel interrupts

"It's more likely to give a false negative than a false positive, but in either case the chance is miniscule." The doctor assures Rachel, "From how far along you think you could be it's too early to do any type of sonogram but we can do that in a few weeks if you still feel the need. In the meantime it's pretty safe to consider yourself pregnant."

The doctor talks for a while about vitamins, Lamaze classes, sonogram appointments and other various topics but Rachel is only half paying attention, her fathers have been through this before and the doctor is giving her more pamphlets than Miss Pillsbury has ever created so she's not really worried about missing anything. Her attention is split because she's considering how to handle what is probably the biggest problem in her life right now. It's not what to do about her plans for NYADA or Broadway, it isn't even about the baby, it's how the heck she's going to tell Santana and survive to actually have the baby.

She doesn't remember walking back through to the waiting room but she does remember the look on her Daddy's face when all she can do is nod once at his questioning expression and the feel of his arms wrapping around her in a hug. Waiting while her father makes more appoints and the drive back home are both a blur to her and it seems like the next breath that she's standing feeling lost in the hallway to her home.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off Sweetheart?" Hiram suggests, "I'll call the school before I head out to work."

Rachel nods absently and heads up the stairs to spend the rest of the day curled up on her bad watching Funny Girl on her laptop.

* * *

Quinn hadn't found Rachel on Tuesday, there was no Glee club practice and she wasn't to be found in the choir room or auditorium, and all the diva's absence on Wednesday had done was annoy the blonde further so when she actually finds Rachel at her locker on Thursday morning, she'd determined to get the diva to talk to her.

"Good morning Ru-Rachel" the blonde corrects herself.

Rachel pauses in sorting her books and eyes the blonde curiously for a moment before deciding to overlook her little error, "Good morning to you too Quinn. What can I do for you today?"

"Are you ready to tell me the results of that test?" Quinn asks.

"No." Rather unusually Rachel's response consisted of just that single word, no explanation, no rambling, just short and to the point and enough for Quinn to work out exactly what the result was.

"Okay, well how about…" Quinn leans in towards Rachel to ensure she's not overheard, "you tell me who the daddy is then?"

Rachel flushes and swallows thickly but shakes her head and Quinn laughs, her suspicions having been confirmed, the test was positive.

"So this is what we'll do then Berry. I'll guess a name and you'll tell me if they got between your thighs, how about that?"

"Do whatever you want Quinn, it is obvious whatever I think doesn't matter to you." Rachel replies, still sorting through the things in her locker, "But given how desperate you seem to be to find out who 'got between my thighs' as you put it, some people might start suspecting that you're interested in being there yourself."

"Hardly" Quinn rolls her eyes at the diva. "Okay so let me see, who first? Maybe Puck?" Quinn pauses for a beat then adds, "Nah, you two are like brother and sister and not even Puck is that sick." Quinn considers this for a moment then clarifies, "though he is close. And we know it's not Finn, he'd be lucky to get your panties off before he unloaded all over himself… So let me see…" Quinn purses her lips, tapping one finger against them as if in deep thought. "I know! Is it…. Santana?"

Rachel thought she had been prepared for almost anyone that Quinn could come suggest, the chance of the blonde coming up with the right answer was non-existent in the diva's mind, so when she did just that Rachel's reaction was a little telling. The books she is currently holding slip out of her fingers to crash onto the floor as she turns to stare at Quinn, her mouth dropping open in surprise.

The smirk on Quinn's face jars Rachel out of her gawking and she hurriedly collects her things and stuffs them back into her locker, slamming the door shut then dragging the blonde into the nearby girl's toilet. There are three Cheerios at the sinks doing their makeup in the mirrors and gossiping as they enter and Rachel turns to glare at Quinn for a few moments before it is clear that the head cheerleader isn't going to do anything.

"Quinn, if you want to talk about this" she says pointing at the girls, "Get rid of them."

Quinn raises an eyebrow at Rachel's presumption but acts quickly enough when the diva shrugs and makes to leave, "Out" she demands, her thumb pointing over her shoulder to the door and the room is almost immediately empty with Rachel locking the door behind the exiting girls.

"You know about Santana's…"

"Cock?" Quinn finishes Rachel's question, "Yeah, we know."

"We?"

"Britt and I. But more to the point, just what are you going to do with the knowledge?" Quinn steps towards the diva, hands on her hips and glaring down at her, "Because if you open your mouth and blab, I swear to god you'll think what I've put you through before this point was a walk in the park compared to what I will do to you."

"I assure you Quinn, I have no intention of spreading any rumors about Santana's condition. I have more important things to take care of." Rachel replies trying not to let Quinn intimidate her.

"Like the baby."

"I did not confirm…"

"And you didn't deny it either." Quinn interrupts moving to lean against one of the sinks and crossing her arms over her chest as she eyes the diva, "Look Berry, if that test had been negative you'd have told me as soon as I asked because I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted any rumors floating about yourself. And I have to assume your absence yesterday was because of a doctor's appointment in the morning for a double check which, had it been negative, you'd have been in school yesterday afternoon with a grin on your face. So level with me Berry…"

"Okay fine" Rachel slumps into the chair sitting in the corner that she uses when she's cleaning off the slushy, "I'm pregnant. Are you happy now? Go enjoy making fun of me with your Cheerio lackeys."

"Is it Santana's?"

"I think that's something I should discuss with Santana first."

"So it is Santana's." Quinn nods, "When are you going to tell her?"

"I-I don't know." Rachel sniffs trying not to break down in tears, "I wanted to wait till it was confirmed and… I-I didn't know she even remembered, she's given me no indication that she did. I thought she'd laugh in my face or accuse me of lying"

Quinn can't help but feel a little sorry for the girl and thankful that she's never found herself in a similar situation. "She didn't remember until Monday; she thought it was just a dream." She sighs, "Look, I don't know how Santana will feel about the pregnancy, but what I do know is that she will be seriously pissed off if you try and hide it from her. She'll understand that you wanted to be sure before you tell her, but wait much longer…" Quinn just shakes her head.

Quinn crosses to the door and unlocks it but before she can leave Rachel speaks.

"Are you going to tell everyone about it?"

When the blonde looks back she can see the diva has her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach, "No Rachel, I wouldn't do that to Santana." She pauses and sighs, "Or you."

* * *

Puck had spent a lot of time on the phone to Rachel on Wednesday night after he'd gotten home from school. They had talked about a lot of things, but most were related to the pregnancy and one thing he was sure of was that the diva was more nervous about telling Santana than she had been of getting the home test result confirmed. He had promised the diva that he would tell Santana nothing, but if he was just reminding her of events then he wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know, right?

Whatever, all he cared about right now was making sure that Rachel didn't get even more hurt when she eventually did talk to the Latina and even if he had to literally beg for her forgiveness later, it would be worth it.

"Lopez, we need to talk."

He'd found her in front of her locker before homeroom after curiously watching Rachel drag an annoyed looking Quinn into the girls toilet.

"Puckerman, there is no fucking way I'm going to hook up with you" Santana says with an expression of distaste, "Even if you were the last man on the planet, I'd rather let the human race go extinct. So get that idea out of that filthy excuse for a thing you call a mind."

"Any chance you had with me is long gone" Puck responds leaning in and lowering his voice he continues "Now I know exactly what you're packing."

Santana slams her locker and glares at him before grabbing his arm and dragging him into a nearby classroom and slamming the door behind them, "Who told you?" she demands.

Puck casually leans against the door, now he's got Santana in private he's not going to let her out until he's had his say.

"It doesn't matter and it doesn't matter what you've got in your spankies, I'm not going to tell anyone about that, I've been sworn to secrecy."

The drama encapsulated in that statement made it obvious to Santana who has told Puck about her, the diva probably made him swear an actual blood oath or something. "Berry! I'll kill her!" Santana says starting for the door but unable to get it open with Puck's dead weight on it, "If you value your balls, you will move Puckerman!"

"You aren't going to do anything Lopez, especially not to Rachel. What you are going to do is stand there and listen to me, and when we're done we'll both walk out of this classroom in one piece and you'll still have your secrets intact." Puck pushes off the door and steps up chest to chest with Santana, "Go after Rachel and everyone will find out, got it?"

Santana seethes at Puckerman, it takes all her restraint not to tear him limb from limb, "What do you want?" she spits out through gritted teeth.

"You to listen, that's all. I made a promise not to tell you something, something that's very important, and I'm not going to break that promise. But I can remind you of stuff you already know and we'll see if you can do the math."

Santana crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes impatiently.

"So" Puck begins, "New Year at my place, we both know you spent a lot of time with a certain diva, drinking with her and dancing with her, right?" Santana nods once and Puck continues, "You went upstairs together, you spent the night in my guest bedroom together, in my guest bed together and for at least some portion of the night, not sleeping. Right?" Santana nods again and Puck pushes himself off of the door and steps right in front of the cheerleader. "And you didn't use protection."

Puck looks pointedly at Santana as if waiting for her to connect the points. The Latina just looks confused for a moment then her eyes widen and jaw drops, "She's pregnant?" her tone is incredulous, not really believing the answer her own mind produced.

Puck grins at her, "Well done Lopez, two and two makes four. Now you listen to me very carefully, the only thing scaring Rachel worse than the pregnancy right now is your reaction to the news, so here's a newsflash, here's what you're going to do if you want to keep that baby making machine between your legs." At each point Puck takes a step forward and jabs a finger towards Santana causing her to take a step back, "You will be nice to her when she tells you. You will take care of her, you will help her make decisions, you will do whatever she asks but most of all you will be there for her whatever it takes. It's time for you to man up, because if you don't I will make sure you never have the chance to have any more kids, ever. Do we have an understanding?" Puck demands.

Santana nods once then Puck nods, turning to walk out of the classroom and leaving Santana standing stunned in the middle of the room.

"She's pregnant…"

* * *

Santana wasn't sure if Puck was playing her for some reason and making the whole thing up, so she watched. She watched Rachel walking from class to class apparently without a care in the world, she watched Rachel sing in the auditorium at lunch time, she watched Rachel study in the library in her free period and she watched Rachel get slushied on her way to the last class of the day.

Santana didn't actually see the slushy coming since she was so focused on the diva, if she had she might have at least considered doing something about it but as it was one moment the diva was fine, the next she was drenched. Santana's eyes widen as she watches the diva's arms don't shoot up to attempt to protect her face as most would, they don't even hang by her sides in shock but wrap protectively around her stomach.

Santana sees red, it is one thing to slushy a girl but to slushy a pregnant girl? A girl who's carrying her child? No fucking way! It doesn't matter to Santana that the jock didn't have a clue about Rachel's state, Snix comes out in force and the next thing anyone knows the jock is flat on his back with Santana kneeling on his chest with one knee and pounding on him with both fists. Santana's oblivious to anything else until two strong pairs of hands drag her away from the now bleeding jock. She tries to pull away, she just wants to pound on the jock some more, right until Quinn voice breaks through her anger.

"You're not going to be able to help her if you get kicked out of school Santana."

It's Brittany and Quinn that have her by the arms and Santana looks around for the other brunette, "Where is she?"

"The girl's toilet." Brittany supplies.

Quinn watches Santana disappear into the toilet and turns back to the jock on the floor, she has a mess to clean up before her best friend gets into trouble.


	7. Chapter 7

Santana didn't exactly know what she was going to say to Rachel when she rushed through the toilet door, but that fact only occurred to her after the door swung shut behind her and she was looking at a rather bedraggled diva. Rachel had already shrugged out of her sweater and was standing in her bra trying to get the worst of the slushy out of her hair and washing it as best she could in the sink. Santana does a quick check around the room and finds it otherwise empty, so she reaches over and locks the door just a second before some tries to push it open.

All Santana can do is wait, shifting from one foot to the other and feeling like her heart is thumping in her throat while the diva is apparently oblivious to her presence. She opens her mouth to say something, to at least warn Rachel that she's there, but she finds her voice gone as her eyes rove over the smaller girls body, those long legs, the round ass sticking out as she's bent over the sink, the expanse tan skin contrasting with a white bra strap on her otherwise naked back.

Rachel straightens up, a towel in her hands as she starts to dry her hair, and their eyes meet in the mirror but Rachel doesn't seem surprised that Santana is standing there. Her face is a mask showing no emotion as she holds the Latina's gaze but Santana can see the tension in her shoulders and back. It is Santana that proverbially blinks first, her eyes dropping down to the other girls stomach, searching for a moment for the bulge that it is far too early to be visible, before she realizes what she's doing and her eyes shoot back up to meet Rachel's.

If anything the diva looks relieved, the tension gone from her movements as she continues her well-practiced slushy clean-up routine.

"So, you know?" She asks quietly.

"About the baby?" Santana asks; her voice soft as she looks at the girl before her, "Yes."

"Puck or Quinn?"

That surprised Santana, "Quinn knows?"

Rachel chuckles slightly, "So Puck… I should have known he wouldn't have been able to keep his mouth shut." She shakes her head, "I'll have to have a word with him later."

"Quinn knows?" Santana demands this time.

"She caught me buying a home pregnancy test." Rachel sighs, "But I wouldn't tell her whose it was and she didn't know it was positive until a few hours ago." It must have shown in Santana's face that she was rather pissed off at Quinn because Rachel continues, "Don't be mad at Quinn Santana, she said she understood because… well, I probably shouldn't say."

"Because of a little scare she had last year, yeah I know." Santana says with a sigh, "I get it. Who else knows?"

"Just my Dad's" Rachel admits, "Though I haven't told them who the father is."

The uncomfortable silence returns while Rachel washes her face, puts on a clean top and starts to do her makeup. Santana watches from her spot by the door, her eyes occasionally flicking over different parts of the diva's body while she tries to figure out a way to ask the next question.

"I can see you staring at my ass you know." Rachel observes with a smirk.

"Is it…" Santana squeaks, clears her throat and tries again, "Is it mine?"

"My ass?" Rachel asks with a little giggle but her smile falters when Santana doesn't laugh, "I've only had sex once Santana. So yes, the baby is yours."

Santana nods, "It's… It's a little ironic to think that two virgins got together and ended up making a baby their first time when so many people struggle to."

Rachel files the 'two virgins' thing away for later and she examines herself in the mirror for a moment before she turns to lean against the counter. She knows this conversation isn't over yet, Santana's body language tells her as much. The girl is still standing by the door, still shifting from foot to foot and apparently doesn't know what to do with her hands.

"Thank you, by the way."

A look of confusion crosses Santana's features, "What for?"

"For taking the news so calmly, well apart from attacking that jock." Rachel replies, "For not screaming at me, for not accusing me of lying or being a slut, or the million other hurtful things you could have said."

Santana just shrugs, "I look after my own."

Rachel just nods not bothering to point out that if Santana had decided she was lying, then she wouldn't have considered the baby her own. Another one of those not so comfortable silences falls between them.

"Have-Have you thought about what you are going to do?" Santana asks a little tentatively.

"It's all I've been able to think about since I found out Santana."

Santana nods and swallows, "And?"

"We'll take care of it" Rachel says, then clarifying "My fathers and I."

'Take care of it' only meant one thing in Santana's experience when it came to unplanned pregnancies and hearing it in relation to her own child, even if she'd only known about the child for a few hours, was like a knife to her heart. She takes a step back leaning against the door for support as her head spins and she blinks back the tears suddenly filling her eyes. Her hands are clenched, unconsciously digging her nails into her palms to try and distract her from the pain that's filling her chest.

"Are-Are you sure?" Santana grimaced at how weak her voice sounded in that moment but Rachel didn't seem to notice.

"It's for the best Santana… and this way your secret is safe."

"I don't care about that!" Santana snaps. She takes a breath and her tone turns pleading "Please, if that's the only reason…"

"Don't" Rachel interrupts shaking her head and for the first time Santana realizes there are tears in her eyes too, "Don't make this harder than it has to be. I've thought about this for a long time Santana, it's all I've been able to think about. There are lots of reasons, it's not just about you or your secret. This… this is the best thing we can do."

"Rachel…"

"No Santana," this time its Rachel's turn to snap, "trust me." Her voice softens as she turns to collect her things, "This is for the best."

Rachel watches in the mirror as the door close behind Santana as the Latina suddenly turns and rushes through it, then her mask of calm crumbles as she slumps down against the counter before her and regards herself in the large mirror, a tear rolling down her cheek. She hadn't been lying when she said she had thought about the decision she had made. She had very carefully considered all options, her desk at home was covered in charts and diagrams, decision tables and pro and con lists and in the end they all added up to one thing.

If she kept the child, she'd be forever stuck in Lima. A Lime Loser, one of those that had the chance to get out, had the dreams to make it but failed to do so, stuck forever in the trap of this cow-town. It was a fate she was willing to choose for herself but when she factored Santana into the equation the result was worse, a near certainty they would both be stuck here together, Santana's promising future lost along with her own leaving them both to be forever linked together stuck in a perpetual orbit that would eventually destroy them both.

Rachel wasn't stupid, she knew Santana didn't like her and if the diva allowed the Latina to become trapped here with her that dislike would turn to resentment and hate soon enough. No, Rachel may be willing to give up her own future, but one of them had to get out, one of them had to live up to their potential and Rachel could live with her new future if Santana managed to do that.

And in the end, if she found the strength to give the child up for adoption, what happened between now and the birth wouldn't really matter anyway.

This was for the best; Rachel would just have to keep reminding herself of that.

* * *

"This is for the best." Rachel says.

Every breath seams to cause the pain in Santana's chest grow; she opens her mouth but can't make anything come out so she stands there frozen, mouth open, until the door rattles behind her again knocking her out of her stupor. Instinct screams at her not to let Rachel do this, to proverbially knock some sense into her, but that will just end up in a yelling match that this really isn't the place for and she knows Rachel will get her way anyway because, we'll she's Rachel.

So instead she runs, she throws open the door barging past the students standing on the other side and charges down the corridor, blinking back the tears and trying to hide behind the expressionless façade that seems to have deserted her. She stops only once on her charge through the school hallways when she happens to see Quinn in the corridor and grabs the blonde, shoving her against a nearby locker.

"Rachel is untouchable."

If Santana is surprised at just how toneless her voice turns out to be, Quinn is terrified by the combination of it and the obvious pain and anger in her friend's eyes. The blonde nods once and reaches for her phone to send out a text.

There is a list of names of people that are considered untouchable, that are exempt from the day to day name calling, shoving and bullying of school and that are never, ever targeted for a slushy. The list isn't written down but everyone knows who's on it and knows what will happen if they ignore it. Some because of who they are like Brittany, some because of what they know or who they know and some because of a favour they did for someone sometime in the past.

In theory Santana can add someone to the list, but it would be through a process of enforcement. Once the word was out she'd have to deal with anyone that went against her until the message got through to everyone. Quinn was the only person who could add a name by decree alone, which is exactly what Santana needs and exactly what Quinn's broadcast text message had just done. Santana's phone beeps and she pulls it out, checking the message and nodding. She releases Quinn, her expression turning apologetic for a moment before she turns away and runs, the school doors slamming open then closed behind her as she passes through them.

There is no one home when she gets there and she slams the front door behind her before charging up the stairs to her room and collapses on her bed, her whole body shaking with a mixture of sobs and pent up rage. Her hands hurt from where her nails were digging in to her palms, her chest hurts from all the sobbing, her shoulder hurts from where she slammed it into the school doors on her way out of the building, her emotions are pretty much shot to hell and finally the Latina realises all she wants is for her Papi to hold her and tell her everything would be alright.

She grabs her phone and blinks back the tears so she can see to select his mobile number from her phonebook but before she can dial she realizes she has no idea how he will react to news about the pregnancy, scenarios run through her mind right up to being disowned and kicked out and fear decides that there's no way she can tell him right now.

She flips down a few more entries in her phonebook and presses dial. The phone rings twice before it's answered.

"I need to talk to you." She manages between sobs.

* * *

When Santana gets to the doctor's office, Doctor Michaels is already waiting for her by reception and immediately ushers her into her office, siting the Latina down in her usual spot on the sofa before offering her a glass of water and some tissues. She sits opposite the girl and waits for her to collect herself.

"Thank you for seeing me Doctor M." Santana says eventually.

"I've told you before that you can call me Abbey if you want Santana."

"Well, thank you for fitting me in Abbey."

"Santana, when my most stubborn patient calls me and asks to speak to me between sobs, I'll always find time for her." The doctor sits watching Santana as the Latina nods and blows her nose before continuing, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"You won't tell my parents?" Santana asks.

The doctor nods, Santana knows the answer to this, but Abbey thinks the Latina just needs a little reassurance. "Unless I believe you intend to hurt yourself or someone else, everything you say in this office stays between you and me. I won't even tell your parents anything unless you tell me I can."

It's Santana's turn to nod and she takes a breath, her eyes unconsciously dropping to the tissue in her hands, "Rachel's pregnant" she says then adds "She says its mine."

The doctor manages to restrict her surprise to the raising of a single eyebrow, "Rachel Berry?" She asks and Santana nods. "I see." The doctor says, then asks "Do you believe her?"

"That she's pregnant or that it's mine?" Santana asks then shrugs, "I guess it doesn't matter, I don't think she's lying about either, she's not the type."

"When did this happen?"

"The New Year party, turns out the dream wasn't exactly a dream."

The doctor nods and adds some notes papers she's holding, "Well I can see how you feel in general about the situation, but is there anything specific that's bothering you?"

"That's not all of it doc." Santana says, shaking her head, "That's not the worst part."

Abbey waits but when it appears that Santana isn't going to continue, she prods "Okay… Do you want to tell me?"

"She's… She's going to…" Santana finds it almost impossible to say but finally forces the words out before breaking down into sobs again, "She's going to have an abortion."

Abbey watches the Latina sob for a moment before sighing, professionalism be damned, she puts aside her notes and crosses to sit next to Santana and collects the girl into her arms, allowing her to sob against her shoulder.

"Did she tell you she was going to have an abortion?" Abbey asks.

Santana nods against her, "She-She said it was for the best."

"But did you tell her how you felt?"

"What was I supposed to say?" Santana snaps as she pulls away from the doctor, "'Don't get rid of it, carry it for the next eight months getting teased and bullied at school, having people look down their nose at you for being pregnant at 16, spend hours in labor then give up your dreams to look after a child whose 'father' is someone you hate'? What right do I have to ask that of her?"

"You're the child's parent as much as she is Santana" the doctor says, "That gives you the right to have a say even if, as you assume, she doesn't like you."

"I can't do that to her" Santana shakes her head, "It's got to be hard enough for her already without me giving her a major guilt trip too."

"So why did you come to see me today Santana, how can I help you?"

Santana turns to the doctor with a lost expression, "Why does it hurt so much? It feels like… like someone stabbed me in the heart."

"Because you're in love Santana" the doctor explains kindly, "And I don't mean with Rachel, though I'm pretty sure you love her too from what you've told me." She adds when Santana opens her mouth to object, "I mean you're in love with the child. It doesn't matter that you've only known for a few hours, or that it's currently only a few cells in the mother's womb, it's your child, you are its parent and you love it."

"Will it stop hurting?"

"It'll get better Santana, the pain will go away, but I'd be lying if I told you it will stop hurting." The doctor admits, "Eventually you probably won't think about it for years but then something will remind you and it'll hurt again, but it won't be as bad."

"I want it to stop." Santana moans quietly.

Abbey just strokes the Latina's back, "I know, I know."

They sit like that for a while, the relative silence only broken by the Latina's sniffles, until Santana has more or less pulled herself together.

"Santana, can I give you some advice?"

"Isn't that what we pay you for?" Santana tries to joke, but it sounds weak even to her.

"Talk to Rachel, tell her how you feel. I'm sure she wouldn't begrudge you the opportunity to do that and then you know you at least had your say. And think about telling your parents, they may be a little upset initially, but its better if they find out from you rather than someone else and I think they'd be happy to know you can give them grandchildren in the future."

Santana sniffs, "I'll think about it."

* * *

Santana skips school on Friday, in fact she pretty much skips Friday, Saturday and Sunday only getting out of bed to visit the bathroom and grab something to eat when she can no longer ignore her rumbling stomach. She sees no one from the time she arrived back home from her visit to the doctors until Quinn lets herself in to Santana's house using the hidden key and knocks on the Latina's bedroom door.

"So this is where you've been hiding…" Quinn observes as she closes the door behind her and sits on the chair in front of Santana's desk.

"What do you want Q?" Santana grunts from her position beneath her comforter.

"Well, you skipped school missed practice on Friday meaning I had to cover for you again. Don't worry, you can thank me later." Quinn says flicking idly through some of the notes and magazines on Santana's desk, "You stood Britt and me up last night when the three of us were supposed to see a movie, and apart from a single 'I can't make it tonight' text yesterday morning, no one has seen or heard from you since your Berry-like storm out on Thursday. You haven't answered your phone, replied to a text or updated your facebook status." She shrugs, "Britt is starting to think you've been abducted by aliens. She told me to tell you that if it was the greys that got you to poke them in the eyes and run away."

Santana just grunts so Quinn picks up a note that was lying on the desktop and reads it out, "Mi'ja, Your mother and I have to go away for a little while on business. We'll be gone for at least two weeks but possibly as long as a month. We've left you some money and you can call us if you need more. Love Papi."

Quinn sighs, dropping the note back onto the desk, "So they've gone again."

"Didn't even tell me this time, I just found the note and a stack of cash in the kitchen on Friday."

"Santana, there is two thousand dollars here!" exclaims Quinn as she counts the cash.

Santana grunts again, "And no doubt more in Papi's safe if I need it."

Santana's parents had always had to travel for business, but until they had considered her old enough to be left on her own her mother or father would take turns staying at home with her while the other went on the trip. Once she was old enough though, her parents had started going together just for a few days at first then longer and longer and the amount of notice she had of them going had gone down from weeks to days until this latest trip that Santana didn't know about until they had already gone. If Santana counted it up, she'd find that they had been away for about six months of the last year.

It's not that Santana can't look after herself, she's more than capable in that respect, but occasionally she wonders if her parents actually care for her as much as they used to. It would be nice to have them around a bit more often.

"So is this why you've turned into a hermit?" Quinn asks waving the cash at Santana. She can just see Santana's head poking out from under the comforter so she sees when the Latina shakes it. "So what is it?"

"I talked to Berry."

"She told you then." Quinn observes.

"Puck told me." Santana corrects the blonde, "And I know you knew."

Quinn shifts on her chair suddenly a little uncomfortable "I told her I wouldn't tell anyone before I knew it was yours."

"And when you found out you still didn't tell me? Didn't you think I had the right to know?" Santana snaps showing the first real emotion since Quinn entered the room.

Quinn shrugs, "Yes you had the right to know and I told Rachel that. But it wasn't my place to tell you. I made a promise to her like you and Britt did to me last year and if I expected you too keep mine back then, I needed to keep this one however much I wanted to tell you."

Silence falls in the room for a few minutes, Quinn feeling increasingly uncomfortable and worrying she has alienated her best friend, "Santana, is this funk about me not telling you? I'm really sorry, I should have…"

"No, it's not that." Santana interrupts

"Then what is it? Don't you like the idea of having a child?" the blonde asks, "I mean, I know it's a big thing and obviously I don't know if you two are planning on keeping it or put it up for adoption, but I would have thought…"

"She's having an abortion." The Latina cuts Quinn off mid ramble and she notes that the pain of making that statement is slightly less than when she told Doctor Michaels. Maybe she is getting used to the idea and that thought makes her feel slightly sick.

"Are you sure?" Quinn manages to ask once she's gotten past the initial shock, "This is Berry we're talking about" she adds when Santana nods, "She won't drink milk in case the cows are maltreated, she calls eggs 'unborn baby chicks', the last time I ate bacon anywhere near her she asked if I liked my 'slaughtered pig'. Are you sure she's going to…?"

"She told me herself." Santana manages before breaking down into sobs once more.

She thought she'd cried herself dry long ago, but talking about it has brought the pain back. Quinn crosses to the side of Santana's bed, pulling the girl into her arms and hugging her as she sobs.

"You need to talk to her Santana, tell her how you feel. Beg her to keep it if you must."

"How am I supposed to ask her to do that? How do I ask her to suffer through eight months of pregnancy and bullying and then choose between keeping a child she didn't want and putting it up for adoption?" Santana demands, "If you had been pregnant and Puck begged you to keep it, wouldn't you have laughed in his face?"

"If I had been pregnant" Quinn begins quietly, "I would have kept it anyway. Just talk to her Santana, that's all I'm saying. At least let her know how you feel."

They sit there for a while rocking back and forth slightly as Santana sobs into Quinn's neck, the blonde soothing her by running her hand up and down the Latina's back until the sobs die away.

"Santana?"

"Yeah Q?"

"You're naked."

Santana actually manages a chuckle, "I was in bed until you practically dragged me out of it."


	8. Chapter 8

By Wednesday Quinn was sure she was watching her best friend self-destruct. After their little chat on Sunday, Quinn had finally persuaded Santana to get dressed by threatening to strip and join her in bed if she didn't get up and put something on (and the fact that she had turned Quinn down again spoke volumes in the blonde's mind of how the Latina felt about a certain diva) and they had went downstairs to watch some movies together. When Quinn had finally left for the night Santana had seemed if not happy than at least not as depressed as she had been.

Quinn had been hopeful that the Latina and Rachel would talk the next day and get things sorted out between them. Apparently this had not happened.

Instead Santana had started her day by literally shoving around a bunch of baby Cheerios that had the bad luck to happen to get in her way as she stomped through the school halls. Luckily they had the sense to get out of the Latina's way rather than shove back, which is exactly what caused Finn to be heading to the hospital just after lunch with a broken nose and everyone that happened to be in the hallway at the time swearing they saw him walk into an open locker door despite his objections otherwise. Quinn may or may not have been in full Head Bitch mode and glaring at the other students at the teacher that had happened to be passing ask if anyone could validate her story.

At one point the Latina had even called Brittany stupid, an act that had resulted in the dancer having to hold Quinn back as Santana strutted away from them.

_"No one calls you stupid Britt, especially not her."_

_"She's hurting Q, she's hurting badly. We both know she doesn't mean it and she probably feels bad enough about it already. If you go after her it'll just make everything worse."_

_"But…"_

_"No Quinn, let it go this time."_

The grey cloud Santana seemed to be living under followed her to Glee club where she sat in the back corner and sulked, never once looking towards the brunette that was sitting on the other side of the room even when she got up to sing, though Quinn did notice her shifting in her seat and was sure she saw unshed tears in the other girls eyes. The blonde was just thankful that Finn hadn't turned up because she's sure he would have said something stupid and Santana would have finished the job she started earlier in the day, not that the blonde would have blamed her.

Tuesday didn't see the Latina's mood improve. The day started with an unprecedented number of slushy facials applied to everyone from the audio visual club all the way up the social hierarchy to some football and hockey players including the asshole Rick 'the stick' who probably deserved it more than most, at least in Quinn's opinion. She did notice that both the Glee club and Cheerios had been spared the icy slush however.

It didn't take any digging on the blondes part to find out that Santana had ordered pretty much all the attacks and had applied a few of them personally. When the slushy machine in the Cheerios lounge had run dry well before lunch, Quinn had thought that might be the end of it for the day but Santana managed to get her hands on some crushed ice from somewhere and the avalanche continued resulting in Rachel pointing out that at least ice water was good for the skin and didn't leave a stain on anyone's clothes.

By Wednesday morning Quinn was seriously pissed off. Somehow, and Quinn was embarrassed to admit she wasn't entirely sure how, Santana had managed to take charge of the morning Cheerios' practice and was right at that moment running the entirety of the squad (apart from herself, Quinn and Britt of course, she knew better than that) into the ground with suicides. Rather than just bitch-slap some sense into the girl, which granted would have given the blonde quite a bit of satisfaction but not have solved the problem for the long term, Quinn had decided that she was going to get the Latina and Berry to talk, even if she had to lock the two of them in a room together and throw away the key.

Something she might actually have to do.

She's marching through the hallways in full Head Bitch mode looking for Berry some time before the homeroom bell is due to ring. Quinn saw the diva's car in the car park and she's passed her locker and the choir room without finding her, so that just leaves the auditorium which is exactly where the cheerleader finds the diva. As soon as the door cracks open Quinn can hear Berry on stage, singing her little heart out as always. It takes a moment for Quinn to recognize the song the diva was so invested in, but when she does she feels her eyebrows shoot up. Was she really singing "Need you now"? Quinn wonders for a moment exactly who the diva was singing about.

When Berry finishes the song, Quinn makes herself known by marching down the aisle, up onto the stage and standing right in front of Berry with her hands on her hips.

"Quinn" the diva greets her.

But the cheerleader isn't in the mood for small talk, "Look Berry, I don't know exactly what you said to Santana last week but she's been in one hell of a bad mood ever since. Frankly I doubt this school will survive much more of it and I know that my Cheerios won't, so it's time for you to get your head out of your ass and talk to her."

Rachel just blinks up at Quinn in confusion, "Quinn, I talked to Santana last week. I doubt anything I have to say to her would help her mood."

"That's the point Berry, you talked. **_You_** talked. From what she told me you did a lot of talking and not a hell of a lot of listening." Quinn pointed out, "Something I know you're very good at" she adds rolling her eyes. "But that bun in your oven is as much hers as yours…"

"Quinn!" Rachel interrupts, "You said you wouldn't say anything."

"Oh cool it Berry, there's only you, me and junior here right now. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted" she glares at the diva, "Junior gives her as much right to a say in anything as you have. So you need to get out there, listen to what she has to say and make decisions with her, not on your own."

"You don't even know if she wants to be involved!" Rachel points out hotly.

"The hell I do, I know better than you Berry, **_I've_** actually listened to her. Do you seriously think the last two days of havoc have been for the fun of it? You've hurt her Berry, worse than you can probably even guess and the only reason you're not on the receiving end of both of our wrath is because of what's in your belly right now." The blonde crosses her arms over her chest and starts tapping her foot, "So what's it going to be? Are you going to go talk to her voluntarily, or do I have to drag you down there by your hair?"

Rachel listened to Quinn's mini-rant with widening eyes. She had assumed that the Latina would be a little annoyed and she had accepted that part of the events of the previous few days had been caused by their discussion, she knew that Santana wouldn't run away from responsibility but she had also assumed that Santana would be thankful that her secret was still safe, that her freedom and future wasn't under threat from being responsible for a child that was, after all, an accident and that, most of all, she'd be happy she wasn't tied down to someone she didn't like just because of one drunken act.

All Rachel can do is shake her head sadly, "I can't do that to her Quinn."

"Do what?" Quinn demands a little confused, Rachel listening to Santana didn't seem like a bad thing to Quinn but Rachel certainly seemed to think that was the case.

"Tie her down to someone she hates! Be the cause of everyone finding out the one thing she's worked so hard to protect!" Rachel declares, "I'm not stupid Quinn, I may not have listened to her but that's because I know what she'll feel obligated to do and maybe your right, maybe I have hurt her but it's all for her own good because think for a moment about what will happen to her in this hellhole of a school if her secret does come out?" Rachel pauses to catch her breath since she's been steadily talking louder until she's more or less screaming at Quinn.

"And then she'll throw away her future." Rachel continues quietly, turning her back to Quinn and leaning against the piano, blinking back unshed tears. "This is the only way I can protect her from that Quinn, by not letting it happen in the first place."

Rachel jumps slightly when Quinn steps up to her and gently takes her by the arm to turn her around, "That's not your choice Rachel" the cheerleader says softly, "That has to be her choice."

"She doesn't know what she'd be letting herself in for Quinn. It'd be a hundred times worse than anything I've suffered. Who'd protect her?"

"I will" Quinn says with finality, "I'm her friend Rachel. Yes we may have had some differences in the past but first and foremost, I'm her friend. You look after Junior and let Santana look after you and I'll look after her."

Rachel isn't entirely convinced by Quinn's argument but maybe if she spoke to Santana, let her have her say and explain things to her, the Latina might accept she was right, realize that Rachel's plans were for the best and so stop being such a bitch to almost everyone. It couldn't hurt right?

"I'm not promising anything" the diva says to Quinn, "but where is she?"

The blonde almost sighs in relief, "Right now she's out at the athletics track running my Cheerios into the ground."

Rachel nods once and turns to walk down one of the aisles, stopping when Quinn calls after her, "Berry, you hurt her again and when I'm done with you you'll think the time you've already spent at this school was heaven. Do you understand me?"

Rachel nods once and continues out of the auditorium.

Quinn stands on the stage for a moment, hands on hips and a feeling of satisfaction filling her chest. Hopefully Berry would get her shit together and Santana in even if it is just a little, but it's a start. She checks her watch and heads out of the auditorium to find her girlfriend, there might just be enough time before the homeroom bell to spend some quality time in the closet next to the Choir room where a certain mattress was still stored.

* * *

It wasn't difficult for Rachel to find Santana, not because she was exactly where Quinn said she was, sitting on the bleachers next to the running track, but because she was berating the Cheerios running on the track through Sue's megaphone which Rachel finds both kind of cute and a little creepy. Rachel pauses, watching the Latina for a moment as she in turn watches the Cheerios running around the track and it's almost as though she can see the black cloud over the other girls head. The slightly slumped posture, unusual for Santana even when she's relaxed, the tension in her body causing her right knee to jump up and down, and far off stare, seeing but at the same time not seeing, were all indicators of the girls state of mind.

Rachel wonders for a moment how she can apparently read Santana so easily, but the thought is passing as she continues along the front of the bleachers. Santana doesn't see her coming, though some of the Cheerios running around the track throw her sneering looks, so Santana's reaction when she sits down on the bleachers next to her isn't surprising. Her head whips round, mouth opening as if to spit out some insult, then her eyes go wide when she recognizes the girl next to her and she snaps her attention back to the field without comment.

They watch the girls running around the track for a few minutes without comment until finally Rachel breaks the silence, "Santana, some of them look like they're about to collapse."

"Yeah well, they shouldn't be wearing the uniform if they can't take a little hard exercise."

Santana raises the megaphone to her lips and yells something Rachel can't make out over the sequel of feedback. Rachel watches the girls on the track for any reaction that might give her a hint at what Santana just yelled, but they just continue slogging their way around the track.

"Santana, you need to stop this. Sue isn't going to be happy when she get back if half the squad has quit or died."

"Since when are you bothered with what other people think Berry?" Santana snaps at her without even turning around.

Rachel cringes a little at the bitterness in the Latina's tone. She knows she wasn't exactly receptive that when Santana had tried to talk to her, but in her defence she had just taken a slushy to the face.

She takes a breath before responding, "I accept I could have handled things better Santana, but I was just trying to do what was best for us…"

"And you think killing my child is what's best for me?!" Santana demands spinning towards the other girl causing her to jump back a little. Rachel's mouth opens in surprised at Santana's words but the Latina doesn't allow her to interrupt, "I didn't even know I could have kids Berry, the doctors always said my chances would probably be somewhere between slim and non-existent, and if I could, who would want someone like me?" Santana turns away shaking her head sadly and blinking back her tears, "But don't worry Berry" she says, her voice surprisingly steady even to her own ears, "I know it's your body and you'd have to carry it for nine months and all that shit. So I'm not going to get down on my knees and beg you to keep it, as much as I want to. But don't expect me to like it or you and don't claim it's what's best for anyone but yourself."

The next thing she knows, Santana is on the receiving end of a firm smack on the back of the head, "What the fuck Berry?!" she demands automatically ducking and bringing her hand up to rub the back of her head.

Rachel didn't realize what she had done until after the fact and it was only the fact that she is so pissed off at Santana supposition that stops her from literally shaking in her shoes.

"That's for thinking I'd kill my own child, our child, Santana." Rachel says crossing her arms over her chest and glares at the Latina, "An abortion? Seriously? Do you not know me at all? Have we not met? I'm a vegan for goodness sake Santana, how could you even think…?"

Santana blinks at Rachel in surprise and confusion as the diva continues to ramble on, a ray of hope seems to pierce the melancholy that had surrounded her. "But… You said you'd 'take care of it'."

"And I will" Rachel huffs, "This baby will be born strong and healthy if there's anything I can do about it. Take care of it means just that, I'll do everything in my power to take care of it, not have an abortion."

"You're… you're keeping it?" Santana asks through her shock.

"Well, I haven't decided about putting him or her up for adoption" Rachel clarifies, "But all being well, this child will be born."

After living with what felt like the weight of the world in her shoulders for the last week, Santana feels like she's walking on air now. All the depression, anger and hurt drained away instantly, the vice that had been so painfully wrapped around her heart suddenly gone and all she feels now is happy, her heart soaring with joy and hope. Her child is going to be born, she's going to be a parent and no matter how tough things will get in the process, it's all going to be worth it in the end. Santana is crying again, happy tears this time, but frankly she just doesn't care.

The next thing Rachel knows, Santana's arms are wrapped around the diva and she's chanting "Thank you, thank you" into her ear.

Rachel sits there in shock for a moment, her own arms automatically hugging the Latina back, until she notices out of the corner of her eye a number of the Cheerios stopping to watch them.

"Santana, we're gathering an audience."

"I don't care."

"Well maybe you should, how do you think this looks to them?" Rachel asks.

Santana pulls back and eyes the diva for a second before reaching for the megaphone and this time Rachel can make out what she yells.

"Hit the showers before I choke on how much you all stink!"

"That wasn't nice Santana" Rachel says as she watches the girls head towards the locker rooms.

"Yeah well, they're used to it and at least we don't have an audience anymore."

But Santana doesn't make a move to wrap her arms around the diva again having regained at least a little control over her actions even with the sudden and overwhelming emotions she is still feeling. Instead they just sit on the bleachers together, staring out over the now empty running track in an awkward silence.

"I want to be involved Rachel" Santana says suddenly, "I'm not going to be some deadbeat dad…"

"Mother" Rachel interrupts.

"What?"

"Mother, not Dad, Mother. You are a girl after all."

"Whatever. I want to be involved."

Rachel sits quietly for a moment, staring off into the distance as her mind works before she finally replies, "I still don't think that's a good idea Santana."

"I don't think that's your choice Rachel, it's my baby too and that gives me some rights. I wasn't going to push things before because the decision to carry the child really did have to be yours, it wouldn't have been right for me to force that on you." Santana pauses sucking in a deep breath, "But if you're going all the way with it, I'm going to be there."

Rachel studies the Latina closely for a few moments and she can see the sincerity in her, but she also remembers everything she worked through, all the options and choices and the same outcome almost every time. Two lost futures instead of one.

"And if I don't want you there?" she asks curiously.

"Frankly Rachel, I don't give a damn."

"And when they find out about your condition? Will you care then? Or are you planning on being seen as the knight in shining armour rescuing the poor pregnant girl that won't reveal father of her child?" Rachel's tone was a little bitterer than she had intended but she's surprised by Santana's response.

"I will be happy to tell anyone that asks that the child you're carrying is mine, I'll shout it from the roof tops, take out a full page advert in the local paper if I need to. I'll change my status on Facebook right now if you want me too. And no, I don't care what anyone else thinks," She reaches out placing her hand on Rachel's still flat stomach, "This is all that matters Rachel, not other peoples opinion."

Rachel is left speechless for a full minute until they both hear the noise of the homeroom bell ringing carried across the campus by the wind.

"I-I'll think about it." Rachel stutters before turning to head for the school.

"Don't think I'll give up Rachel, ever." Santana calls after her.

* * *

Santana had a plan. The idea had come to her during homeroom and she had seriously considered skipping the rest of the school day right then and there to carry it out. But logic quickly prevails and she comes to the conclusion that office hours probably weren't the best time to try and speak to the people she needed to. And so she waits with increasing irritation for the end of the school day.

Her irritation is only soothed when she leads Quinn and Brittany into the choir room for Glee to find that they are the first to arrive, apart from a certain brunette who always manages to get there first. Santana stops in the doorway, the other two almost running into her, and examines the scene before her for a moment before confidently crossing the room to drop in to the chair next to Rachel. Quinn and Brittany sit in the row behind her after a few moments of confusion followed by a shared knowing look. The brunette doesn't say anything, just looks up at her curiously for a moment before smiling and returning to the sheet music she's studying.

The other members of the Glee club start to arrive in ones and twos with only a few raised eyebrows at the seating arrangements but everyone is smart enough to avoid commenting, possibly because the last two days of havoc are still fresh in their minds and tempting fate wasn't high on their to do lists. When Finn lumbers in he's so engrossed by frowning at the paper he's holding in one hand that he walks right up to where Santana's sitting before he realizes the chair isn't empty. He looks between Rachel and Santana with a dopy confused look for a few moments, opening his mouth to say something until he catches Santana's glare and huffs before he wanders off to sit next to Puck. The Latina can't help but smirk as she notices the large D Minus mark on the test he was holding.

Rachel leaned over towards Santana, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Santana says, then after a moment adds "For what?"

"He wouldn't stop sitting next to me even after we broke up, it was starting to get annoying."

Santana glares at the idiot again just for the hell of it, even though he wasn't currently looking in their direction. "If he bothers you again, let me know and I'll take care of it Rach."

Rachel almost manages to mask her surprise, her eyes widening slightly was the only give away if anyone had been watching close enough but she can't help but smile at the warm feeling that filled her chest at Santana's use of a nice nickname for a change, so she nods and ducks her head. Mr Shue finally shows up late as usual and the lesson starts, but soon enough Santana notices that Finn keeps glancing over in Rachel's direction and he's not exactly subtle about it. She targets him with one of her best bitch glares until he happens to glance their way again and is faintly satisfied when she sees him jump and hastily turn away in response.

Santana returns her attention to the lesson but is quickly distracted by Rachel's legs just visible in the corner of her vision. Even before she became aware of her feelings towards the diva Santana would regularly find her eyes drawn to those legs. If she was bored during Glee, or if Mr Shue was spouting some ridiculous theory about some ancient song that she really couldn't care less about, or if Rachel was standing at the front lecturing or singing her eyes would eventually find their way to the diva's legs, tracing the curves with her eyes, watching the muscles flex as the girl walked and occasionally tracking up over those short skirts and ending up staring at the diva's ass.

Frankly she was surprised no one had ever caught her leering.

In the past she had convinced herself she was just trying to work out how someone so short could have such long legs, an optical illusion caused by the combination of a short skirt and long socks maybe?, or that she was just looking at her legs to avoid looking at her face since her legs were at least a little attractive. But now she was done with pretending (at least to herself) and instead ended up spending some quality time imagining those legs wrapped around her waist, her hands full of that luscious ass as the diva slides up and down her…

Her train of thought is totally derailed when Rachel crosses her legs, her already short skirt riding up to expose more of that amazing thigh and the only reason the whole room doesn't hear Santana's involuntary whimper is because Mercedes hits a high note at top volume. Any interest Santana had in the lesson or in her club mate's performances, which granted was pretty low to begin with, is now gone altogether. Her entire focus is on those legs, her eyes devouring every millimeter of exposed flesh as she tries to swallow her arousal and at the same time trying to appear that she wasn't perving on the girl.

Its only when Rachel stands, unconsciously adjusting her skirt as she does so, says goodbye and walks out of the choir room that Santana notices the practice is over. She blinks in surprise and then bolts out of her seat when she realizes she can finally execute her plan.


	9. Chapter 9

Santana pretty much dived into her car and it only took her a few moments to catch up with her target. She sat a couple of cars behind as they drove slowly through the town and Santana is a little disgusted at just how easy it was to remain unnoticed, almost an insult to her Coach Sue taught tailing skills.

"If she's going to be famous, I'm going to have to teach her a few things."

It was almost as if it didn't even occur to Rachel that she might be followed, which Santana admits to herself is probably the case and for a good reason, who's want to follow anyone in this dead-end town? Still Santana does have a good reason today and that's to see if the diva heads home or not. She thinks Rachel has some sort of lesson after school on Wednesdays, dancing or singing or something, the diva had mentioned it repeatedly in the past but Santana had never felt the need to pay attention.

But Santana is gratified to find her memory proven accurate as Rachel pulls in to the parking lot of a small complex of buildings one of which has a prominent dance school sign above the door. The Latina doesn't follow her in to the parking lot, instead driving straight past before turning and heading in the opposite direction to park less than ten minutes later outside the diva's home.

It's only just past five and it only just occurs to Santana that she wasn't sure if Rachel's fathers would be home at this time. She's not sure what either of them does for a living, but from her own experience she knows her father can work late into the night at the office (when he's even in the country) so she wouldn't be surprised if no one was home at the Berry house. But as it turns out she's lucky since there are two cars in the drive way, both with still warm hoods she notes in passing, so probably both Rachel's fathers are at home.

"Or they have visitors." She murmurs to herself.

It is not until she is about to knock on the front door, her hand already raised to the knocker, that the nerves hit her. It's not that she's scared to admit that she got Rachel pregnant, but to admit it to her fathers was another thing entirely and she can only hope she manages to walk out of this house with _all_ her extremities intact when they were done. So she bangs on the door before the nerves can get the better of her and it only takes a few moments before the door swings open.

"Hello Mr Berry"

Santana isn't sure which Mr Berry is which, she knows one is called Hiram and the other LeRoy and that Rachel calls them Dad and Daddy, but she's never actually been officially introduced to them. And she can't go wrong with Mr Berry, right?

The man in the door looks at her for a moment as if trying to place her, then glances at her uniform and definitely doesn't smile in recognition.

"Ah, Santana isn't it?" He asks, "You're in Glee club with Rachel, right?"

"You know me?" Santana blurts out a little surprised.

Mr Berry nods, "Oh yes Santana, Rachel has told us about you. _All_ about you."

The emphasis he places on the word 'all' makes Santana swallow nervously, suddenly aware that Rachel has probably told them everything the Latina has done to her and she re-evaluates the chances of getting out with all her parts intact.

"Can I come in?" she asks, proud that her voice shows no sign of her uneasiness.

"I'm afraid Rachel isn't here at the moment Santana, she's at a dance lesson right now."

Santana nods, "I know, I came to speak to you and the other Mr Berry."

He looks at her in surprise for a moment before stepping back and gesturing for her to enter. He shows her to the living room and disappears to find his husband. Santana had noticed the photos on the walls of the hallway though she hadn't had a chance to examine them in passing, but there were more here. On the walls, on shelves and almost every flat surface held a photo of one type or another. The effect wasn't overpowering but it certainly made the house feel more homely than her home with its spartan walls or expensive abstract artwork.

Santana was examining one particular picture when Rachel's fathers entered the room. Rachel didn't look much younger than she was now standing with both her fathers in front of the front door of this very house in a photo obviously taken on a self-timer. What had caught Santana's eye was what Rachel was wearing, not the normal short skirt and argyle sweater Santana was used to but black skinny jeans and a light pink button down shirt that was obviously fitted to her form but Santana was sure she'd seen that outfit before.

"That was her first day at High school" the Mr Berry that had opened the door said, "She spent hours the night before picking an outfit, she was so excited and wanted to make a good first impression. That was her favorite shirt which we had to throw out when we couldn't get the grape slushy stain out of it."

Santana swallows, she remembers the outfit now because she saw it on the first day of school and she'd been the one to throw the slushy. It had been an initiation by the older Cheerios, they picked some random freshmen and handed them out as targets to the baby Cheerios with the understanding that if they weren't covered in slushy before the end of the day, the new Cheerio would be the one wearing the slushy every day for the first week. Santana hadn't even known who Rachel Berry was at that point.

"That was me." She admits quietly.

"I know." Mr Berry says, "She cried herself to sleep that night and has done many times since. Back then she didn't understand why everyone seemed to be picking on her but she wouldn't let us go up to the school to take it up with the principal." He shrugs, "Now I don't know what she thinks about it."

"I'm sorry." For possibly the first time in her life, Santana truly means an apology.

"You should say that to her." The other Mr Berry said.

"I will."

They stand for a moment, Santana still looking at the photo but not really seeing it anymore, before one of the Mr Berry's break the silence.

"Why don't we sit" he says gesturing to the sofa.

Santana takes a place on the sofa while Rachel's fathers each take one of the armchairs opposite.

"For reference I am Hiram and my husband is LeRoy" Says the Mr Berry that opened the door, "However for the moment you can call us Mr Berry or Sir." When Santana nods he continues, "So what did you want to talk to us about?"

This was the moment of truth. She could back out now, make up some excuse as to why she wanted to talk to them and then get the hell out of dodge, or she could take responsibility for her part in the pregnancy and keep her promise to Rachel to never give up. No contest.

"Mr Berry, I know about your daughter's condition." She says, quickly adding "And I know she told you about it too, so I'm not telling you anything you don't already know." Both of Rachel's fathers nod at Santana she continues, "She also told me she didn't tell you who the father is…"

Santana looks to both men for confirmation that that was still the case and Hiram nods.

"She said it was complicated and told us she might be able to tell us later. Can I assume she told you?"

Santana shakes her head as she lets her eyes drop from the two men opposite to her own hands clasped before her, "She told Puck, err that's Noah Puckerman, and he told me."

LeRoy sighs, "She trusts that boy too much sometimes."

"We'll need to have a word with him later about keeping our daughter confidences." Hiram agrees.

"He had a good reason to tell me." Santana begins, "You see…"

"Santana!" Hiram interrupts causing the Latina to jump, "While I appreciate your possibly misplaced attempt at honesty with us, Rachel assured us that she has a good reason not tell us. And while I'm sure I'm correct in saying that both my husband and I do wish to know who got our daughter into this state", he pauses and LeRoy makes a noise of agreement, "I don't think it is appropriate for you to tell us. That should be left to either Rachel or the father."

Santana takes a breath, trying to calm her heart that's now thundering in her ears, "Well that's the thing Mr Berry," she looks up at him deliberately meeting his gaze, "I'm the father."

There is a beat of silence before LeRoy chuckles, though Hiram doesn't break her gaze.

"Santana, we may be two gay men but even we know the birds and the bees." LeRoy says, "And while we would be thrilled if Rachel could bear the child of her partner no matter the gender, we are both very aware that nature requires the involvement of both a male and a female in the process of procreation."

Santana's gaze switches to LeRoy and she nods, "I have male sexual organs."

"You're a boy?" Hiram asks somewhat surprised.

"No, I'm a girl." Santana answers quickly, "I am physically female, except I guess in the most important area. I have double-X chromosomes and I've always self-identified as female, though if I was physically normal I'd be classified by the world in which we live as being gay."

"But you expect us to believe you have a penis and testicles?" Hiram asks.

Santana knew they might not believe her when she told them so she had prepared herself for this possibility, but she still didn't like what she was about to offer. "I can show you if you want, or you can ask Rachel later."

"I don't think that will be necessary," LeRoy says much to Santana's relief, "it's not exactly something that someone would lie about Honey." He says to his husband.

"But how…?"

Santana shrugs, "No one really knows, though the prevailing opinion at the moment is that I'm a chimera."

Both men look confused, so Santana elaborates. "You see twins run in my family and the theory goes that sometimes the stronger embryo absorbs the weaker one so that instead of it forming a separate baby, it becomes part of the others system. I guess most people would never find out if the weaker embryo forms an internal organ or bone marrow or something like that, but in my case the doctors assume that my twin was male and became my reproductive system."

Santana is surprised that it was nowhere near as hard to tell someone else about her condition as she thought it would be, though granted they weren't going to show up at school tomorrow and tell everyone else. That said, it could go downhill pretty badly from here considering what she'd done to their daughter.

"So, let's assume for a moment you are correct and truthful and are the…" Hiram pauses for a moment trying to find an appropriate word, "other parent to our daughter's child. Why exactly are you here and telling us? Most boys would probably be giving us a wide berth right about now, especially if they knew Rachel wasn't telling us who the father was."

"I made a mistake when I slept with your daughter, I should at least have used protection." Santana shakes her head, "I was told that my chances of having a biological child were pretty much zero, though I'm not using that as an excuse." She quickly adds. "But there was a misunderstanding when I first discussed the issue with Rachel and I thought she had decided to have an abortion."

Santana is interrupted by a gasp from LeRoy and she nods, "I know, I should have known she wouldn't do that but …" she shrugs, "For just over five days I thought that what might be my only chance of having my own child may be slipping through my fingers and it killed me a little more each day. I wasn't going to force her to keep it, I knew that was a decision only she could make, but sometimes I wished I could."

Santana's eyes were filling with tears at the memory and she wipes them with the palms of her hands, "When she told me she was keeping it, I was so happy… I still am really. I know she's not decided if she's keeping it or putting it up for adoption, but I don't want to be a deadbeat parent. It's my child too and I want to be involved, I need to be involved in everything. I want to be there for her, I want to go with her to the doctors and Lamaze classes, I want to be part of making those decisions and I can pay for the medical bills. But Rachel isn't sure about letting me be involved, she thinks it won't be good for me if my condition gets out and that she'd be tying me down or something, I'm not entirely sure what she means by that though."

"If you think we're going to force Rachel into something she doesn't want to do, you're very seriously mistaken Santana." Hiram says.

"That's not what I want" Santana says shaking her head, "I just want her to give me a chance, let me prove that I can be there for her, that I want to be there for her. You can at least talk to her for me can't you?"

"I think we're both impressed that you are so willing to take responsibility for your actions Santana, even if you're not entirely to blame for the resulting situation." Hiram says, "But Rachel is right, this could cause your condition to become public and in this town anyone that's different suffers, I think we all know that." Both LeRoy and Santana nod at this. "And a child is a big responsibility, even if it is only for the nine months of the pregnancy. Are you really ready for that?"

Santana takes a breath and nods, "I'm ready and I'm serious. If Rachel decides to keep the baby I won't interfere, though I hope I can be involved in his or her life, but if Rachel decides to put the child up for adoption, I fully intend to file for custody myself."

Santana wasn't sure where that idea came from but as soon as she said it she knew it was true, she'd do anything she could to keep the child and she'd have to have some rights as a biological parent, right? It would be better if it didn't come to that though, Santana could see lots of long complicated lawsuits in her future if it did simply because of her condition and anyway, it would be best if Rachel was in their child's life too.

"Are you threatening us?" demands LeRoy as he jumps to his feet, anger evident on his features.

"No" Santana says quickly, "That's not what I meant at all. I just meant to show you how serious I am and even if it does come to that, I won't stop Rachel or either of you from seeing our child if you decide you want to."

"And what about our daughter?" Hiram asks after a few moments of silence, "Is this all just about the baby, or is there more to it?"

Santana is quiet for a moment, her eyes downcast to her hands that she's twisting together before her, "Look, I know she doesn't like me much and with good reason," she says totally missing the knowing glance that Hiram and LeRoy share, "But I will do whatever it takes to make sure she's comfortable around me and I know that may take a while but I won't stop trying. I just want what's best for our baby and I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen."

"Would you give us a moment please?" Hiram says as he and his husband stand.

They head through to what Santana assumed with either the kitchen or the dining room. She can hear them talking though she can't make out what they are saying, but the conversation seems calm enough. That doesn't stop her from feeling nervous though and so she allows her eyes flick over the many photos that decorate the room only to find her eyes drawn back to that photo with the pink shirt.

Did Rachel change her style because of the slushies? Santana casts her mind back to that first week trying to remember anything about what the diva had been wearing. The problem was that Rachel hadn't been anything to Santana back then, just a target on that first day and then not even a blip on her radar, but she had a feeling that the argyle didn't happen until the second week and then it was like a switch was thrown, not a mix of an older style with new but a total change almost overnight.

That means that the slushies were responsible and that she too was responsible too and Santana cringes internally at the thought. Just how much of an effect on Rachel's life had she had without even realizing it? And none of it would be good either. God, the girl must really hate her and now look what she's done to her.

Santana doesn't immediately notice the return of Rachel's fathers.

"Well, we've talked this over and while we won't force Rachel to do anything, we have decided to talk to her about at least considering your offer for help." Hiram says.

"Plus we have a suggestion for you" LeRoy adds, "Valentine's Day is coming up."

"I don't understand…"

"Rachel has always dreamt of a perfect valentine's day, to be swept off her feet by a knight in shining armour as it were." Hiram clarifies, "Her last boyfriend was… lacking on the romance front."

"And that's an understatement" LeRoy says as he shudders at the memory, "We heard about his failings in great detail."

"So sweep her off her feet and it might show her that you're serious and willing to do what it takes." Hiram finishes with a smile.

Santana's confusion was evident in her expression, "But why would she want to go out on a date with me?"

"I think you underestimate our daughter Santana. I doubt she would have slept with someone she hates even if she was drunk."

Santana shakes her head, "She won't agree."

"We were thinking a blind date. We'll make sure she's ready and you just pick her up."

Santana considers this for a moment, "But isn't that just forcing her…?"

Hiram and LeRoy both shake their heads, "No" LeRoy says, "She can still decide not to go with you if that is what she wants and we won't make her. But I think at least putting the effort in would have a positive effect, even if she doesn't actually go out with you."

* * *

Rachel hurts. And it's not the good kind of hurt where you've put a lot of effort into a workout and can feel the good it's doing you. No, this is the kind of hurt that happens when you come down badly from a lift and twist your ankle; when your dance partner fails to notice and so doesn't catch you before you end up face first on the floor. That also explains why Rachel's ankle is now tightly bound in bandages and more or less immobile.

Luckily Rachel's car is an automatic, so she doesn't need that foot to work the clutch which is a bit of a blessing since otherwise she'd have to call one of her fathers to pick her up. As she pulls into the drive and parks next to her fathers' cars all she wants to do is head upstairs to her room, peel off her dancing clothes, slip into a nice warm bath and soak for a while trying to get Santana's promise out of her head.

The whole thing was Santana's fault of course. If Rachel hadn't been distracted by the conversation they had earlier that day she would have hit the landing perfectly and been fine, but instead Santana's words managed to marched across her mind yet again just as she was on her descent and now her ankle is throbbing as she limps her way to the front door.

"Rachel, is that you honey?" Hiram calls as she opens the front door.

"Yes Daddy, I'm just back from dance class."

"Can you come in here a second please?"

Rachel rolls her eyes, the last thing she needs is for her Daddy to decide he wants to have one of his talks with her. She takes one last glance up the stairs and turns to go into the living room. There's a gasp as she hobbles in and a moment later her Dad is helping her over to the sofa. Once she's sitting she smiles up at him in thanks.

"What happened honey?" he asks his voice full of concern.

"I had a bit of a bad landing" Rachel shrugs, "It's just a little sprain and I won't be dancing for a while but otherwise I'm fine."

Rachel's fathers do their usual overly concerned parent bit until she manages to convince them she's going to be fine. She's sure if she were seriously hurt she's really appreciate how much they do care about her, but they do tend to go over the top even on minor injuries that really aren't much of a problem. Once she finally got them to understand she was fine, they got to the reason they called her into the living room.

"We had a visitor tonight while you were out." Hiram says.

"Okay…" Rachel wonders why her parents thought this information required some form of formal notification to her rather than a more normal mention in passing.

"It was Santana Lopez" he continues.

Ah, that was why. Rachel closes her eyes and rubs the bridge of her nose between finger and thumb. There's really only one reason Santana was here so her fathers' probably now know she's the father of Rachel's child. What Rachel is now worried about is exactly what else the Latina has told them or demanded of them. Her fathers would never do anything to hurt her, but Santana can be pretty forceful. And this attempt to short circuit Rachel's decision making process did not endear the Latina to her at all.

"Go on." She says and surprises herself at how steady her voice is.

"She told us she was the other parent." Hiram continues after a moment.

"And she told you she wants to be involved." Rachel adds in a resigned tone, "Anything else?"

Her fathers' share a nervous glance then LeRoy answers, "She claims if you decide to put the baby up for adoption, she's going to file for custody."

"She what?!" Rachel demands shooting up angrily from her seat momentarily forgetting about her injured foot which causes her to sit back down again pretty quickly, "She came here to force her way into my life and now she's threatening me? She has no right …"

"Honey stop!" Hiram says sitting forward on his chair and interrupting what would probably be an impressive Rachel rant, "You know we would never do or agree to anything to hurt you Rachel." All Rachel can do is not in response, "And Santana wasn't threatening anything, she just wanted to prove how serious she was. But she does have a point. She does have the right to be involved if she wants to be, and she is serious when she says she wants to be." Hiram glances over to LeRoy, "While the final choice is yours, we both think you should seriously consider letting her help."

"Can she do that?" Rachel asks quietly trying to quell the faint sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, "File for custody I mean?"

"She said she wouldn't if you decided to keep the child, but yes she can." LeRoy confirms, "I called a lawyer friend who put me in touch with someone who deals with cases like this. I didn't tell him about Santana's unique condition obviously but he did confirm that under normal circumstances a biological father would have the right to file for custody if the mother decided to put the child up for adoption."

"And we can only assume that Santana's condition would complicate things and may lead to a lengthy court case." LeRoy adds.

"And the lawyer says the child could in theory end up in foster care for the duration if that was the case."

"She's trying to force my hand…" Rachel mutters.

"No" Hiram disagrees, "She's trying to do whatever it takes to have a chance to be in her child's life."

"I don't know why, she doesn't even like me." Rachel huffs.

"And she thinks you don't like her." Hiram replies in a knowing tone, which the diva refuses to acknowledge.

Rachel just shakes her head, "I'm going to soak in the bath for a while. I'll tell you what I told Santana, I'll think about it."

LeRoy and Hiram watch Rachel slowly climb the stairs.

"When do you think we should tell her about the date?" LeRoy asks.

"Later. Quite a bit later."

* * *

Rachel groans with pleasure as she relaxes back into the bath of hot water and bubbles. Her still strapped foot is resting up on the edge of the tub, she doesn't want to take the bandage off quite yet and getting it wet would be a bad idea so getting into the tub had been tricky but thanks to her superior upper body strength and flexibility she has managed without the embarrassment of having asking her fathers for help.

She hums along with the Broadway songs that waft through the adjoining door to her bedroom her mind wandering back over the events of the day, cringing a little at the sloppy landing in ballet, but eventually her mind always comes back to one thing, Santana and the baby. Her hand unconsciously moves to her stomach, rubbing it absently as she thinks.

Rachel had seriously underestimated Santana that was for sure. She had known that the Latina would make the offer to support her and be involved of course, as much as she was a grade A bitch she was never one to avoid the consequences of her actions, but Rachel had thought that as soon as she gave Santana an honorable out, the girl wouldn't be visible for the dust she left as she bolted. And yet here she was, so serious that she came and told Rachel's fathers not only about her condition but that she was the father. So serious that she claimed she'd file for custody if she had to. And while Rachel wanted to be angry at the cheerleader for telling her fathers, she could admit that Santana had as much right to tell them as she did.

But the custody thing was a threat whether Santana meant it that way or not. Rachel was sure that the Latina wouldn't take the child if she wanted to keep it, even Santana wasn't that evil, but if she ended up with custody that meant that Rachel could turn a corner one day and come face to face with the child she had given up. That was the threat.

And given the size of this town and how much time she and Santana spent in each other's orbits, that day would come sooner rather than later.

Their child would be a stunner though, the mix of Santana's Latina heritage and her own would no doubt produce a child of exceptional looks, an unconventional heart breaker for sure whether a boy or a girl. Hopefully he or she would get Santana's nose though, Rachel was happy as she was but she wouldn't necessarily wish that particular feature on anyone else. And for a moment Rachel allows her mind to wander to a picture of her standing with Santana behind her, the Latina's arms wrapped around her body as they both looking down at the child bundled in Rachel's arms.

Then her mind drifts back to that night, to climbing the stairs hand in hand with Santana, climbing on top of the Latina after the New Year party. The sounds that the girl had made, the feel of her hands on Rachel's skin, the feel of Santana inside her. She doesn't even realize that her hand had slipped between her legs until she comes gasping Santana's name.


	10. Chapter 10

Rachel had fully intended to track Santana down on Thursday morning after the Latina's cheerleader practice and before homeroom, but as it turned out Santana managed to find her first, marching up to her as she stood by her locker sorting out her books for the day.

"What the hell happened?" demands the Latina

"What?!" Rachel squeaks as she almost jumps out of her skin, a natural reaction of almost any WMHS student to demands from the fiery Latina.

"You're walking with a cane and I could see you limping as you walked in to school all the way from the practice field." Santana says looking and sounding pissed off, "Who do I need to go Lima Heights Adjacent on?"

Although Rachel knows that Santana's concern is probably only because of the baby, for a moment she lets the fact that Santana is concerned about her warm her heart. The cane came from her Dad's collection which had originally been his father's collection, not that either man had ever needed a cane but that hadn't stopped him collecting a large number of different sizes and styles. That had made Rachel's search for one the right size and that didn't contain ivory or another animal by-product long annoying but eventually successful. And while she would normally give anyone owning anything containing ivory a hard time, she understood why her Dad kept the whole collection.

"No-one Santana" she replies evenly, "I simply landed badly from a lift at ballet classes. It does happen sometimes just as I'm sure there are occasional injuries caused by cheer leading no matter how careful you are."

Santana seems to be appeased by this and Rachel can actually tell she's relaxed a little. That is until another thought enters the Latina's mind. "You drove home with an injured foot? Why didn't you call me?" She demands

"Why would I?" Rachel asks honestly confused by that particular question, "And anyway, my car is an automatic so I don't need my left foot to drive."

Santana seems to consider this for a while, levelly returning Rachel gaze as the diva shift slightly uncomfortably under the Latina's scrutiny.

"Fine." She says, ignoring Rachel's question, "But you need to take better care of yourself. What would have happened if…"

"Santana!" Rachel interrupts, glancing about nervously, "This is not the time or the place!"

Santana's mouth snaps shut comically quickly as she glances around to find anyone that might have been paying attention to their conversation, but the coast is apparently clear and the Latina's attention turns back to Rachel.

Rachel takes the initiative before Santana can say anything else, "And I need to talk to you, in private."

The diva collects her books and slams the locker door, juggling the cane and books in the process until Santana relieves her of the pile of books.

"What are you doing?" Rachel demands.

"What does it look like?"

"What? Are you intending on following me around all day to carry my books?"

"Yes" Santana replies evenly.

Rachel gawks at Santana for a moment before she turns and makes her way towards an empty classroom, asking over her shoulder "Aren't you worried your reputation won't survive being seen with you?"

Santana rolls her eyes and follows Rachel into the classroom, closing the door behind her before depositing her own and Rachel's books on the teachers table then making herself comfortable next to them.

"I thought I had made that clear already." The Latina says evenly, "And besides, did Finnept's popularity suffer when he was dating you?"

Rachel hadn't really considered that, "Well no, but that's different…"

"Is it? Okay I'll grant we're not dating", 'though how I wish we were' thought Santana, "But I think my status can withstand an apparent friendship with you. And I have a lot more staying power than your ex." The Latina can't help but smirk, "In more ways than one."

Rachel rolls her eyes, "Yes, well I wouldn't know about that, thank god." Then Rachel narrows her eyes, "But what happens when my condition becomes obvious? That is an inevitability you know and the gossips in this school, two if the biggest being in Glee club with us, will want to know who the father is. What happens then?"

"Whatever happens, happens." Assures Santana, "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't care what people think. We aren't going to be stuck in this town forever and I can take whatever this school throws at me for a couple of years."

Rachel shakes her head sadly, "There's no getting out Santana, not with a child."

"You're wrong." Santana says softly but with surety, "Together we can get out. You, me and the baby, we've got a better life waiting for us than being stuck here."

"I've done the math Santana, I've made the charts and taken all the variables into account. Even together we'd be stuck here in dead-end jobs in a dead-end town with only the hope of our child not screwing up like we did." Rachel had so much more to tell Santana, maybe prove to her she was better off leaving well alone, but tears are already flowing down her cheeks without her permission and if she keeps talking she knows she'll break down totally.

"Is that why you didn't want me involved?" Santana asked, suddenly understanding the girl in front of her a little bit more, "You thought I'd get stuck here too?" All Rachel can do is nod and sniff and Santana stands from the table she's been sitting on and crosses to the girl to pull her into a hug, "Then you missed something Rachel, because we will get out. Even if we keep the child, we will go to college and graduate, and you will end up on Broadway where you belong."

"I wish I could believe that." Rachel sniffs.

"Believe it Rach, it's going to happen."

Rachel allows the other girl to hold her for a while, enjoying the warmth and comfort of the other girl's arms around her and allowing her mind drifting back to the image of the two of them standing together while she held their child. It almost breaks her heart to know that will probably never happen even if they do keep the child.

She pushes away from Santana and wipes her eyes again, the Latina letting her go without argument. "I should be angry with you for what you did last night." She says.

Santana shrugs, "I had as much right to tell them as you did. More maybe when you think about it."

"Not that, the custody thing."

Santana nods in understanding, "I won't take him or her away from you Rach, I promise you that. But if you decide you want to give the baby up, I'll do whatever it takes to have my chance. That's all I meant."

"But how would you feel if you'd agonized over giving up a child only to turn the corner every day and have him or her right there under your nose?"

Santana considers this for a moment, to be honest she hadn't thought too much of the logistics of gaining custody and what it would mean to the pair of them but she could understand what Rachel was saying. The pain of giving up a child would be bad for any mother, but then having to live with them just a few blocks away would make is so much worse, being reminded every day of what she had given up.

"Then I'll move." She decides, "Far enough so you won't bump into him or her by accident but close enough you could visit whenever you wanted."

"Why would you do that?" Rachel asks with a confused tone.

Santana sighs and roll her eyes, how many times does she have to say it? "Because I want a chance with my child Rach, not to torture you and I'll do anything I need to do to have that. I get it, I really do. It would hurt anyone to be put in that position, so if it means moving to avoid that, it's a small sacrifice to make."

The girls just stand there and look at each other for a while, both wondering what the other was really thinking, until the Homeroom bell rang. They both turn to the pile of books on the teacher's desk but Santana gets there to collect them first before crossing to the door and holding it open for Rachel. They ignore the few curious looks they receive on the way to class.

* * *

It didn't happen until the break before the second last class of the day. Santana had somehow managed to show up at each of her classes just before the bell to collect Rachel's books and walk her to her next class or back to her locker or even to the cafeteria where she made Rachel take a seat as she brought the diva her lunch, even remembering to get the vegan option and receiving a few curious looks from the rest of the Gleeks.

"What?" she demands glaring around the table, "She's hurt okay? I'm just trying to help her out."

No one was stupid enough to say anything but Quinn, Brittany and Puck all wore knowing smiles while Rachel blushed and ducked her head. Santana was in a few of Rachel's classes but not the second last that day which was maths, so when they arrive in the appropriate classroom she walks Rachel to her seat and deposits the diva's books on her desk. She waits until Rachel is situated comfortably, as she had done in every other class she didn't share with her, and then bends over and kisses Rachel on the cheek before turning on her heel and strutting out of the class apparently without realising what she's just done.

Rachel is left with her mouth hanging open in surprise and her fingers pressed against her cheek where Santana's lips had just touched her. The feeling starts as a tingle in her cheek but quickly spreads until it feels like her whole body is reacting to the touch and to make things worse it's as if her mind is drained of thought, she can only sit stunned and staring at the door the Latina had just left through.

Twenty minutes later Rachel was rather embarrassed to find that not only could she not answer the question the teacher had called upon her to answer, she had no idea what he had been talking about since the start of the class. Worse she couldn't bring herself to care either; all she could think about was that kiss the Latina had given her so casually.

Rachel was worried that Santana wouldn't show up after class but the Latina appears outside her class just before the bell as she had done for every other class of the day. There is no hesitation as she collects Rachel's books and, once she's sure the diva is following, leads the way to Rachel's next class. Rachel isn't entirely sure where she's going any more, instead just following Santana's swaying hips and alternately cursing and thanking the pervert who had designed those skirts. But at least the Latina seems to know where her next class is and moments later she's sliding into the desk that Santana has just placed her books on. She wonders for a moment how Santana knows where she sits in apparently ever one of her classes.

But that thought is discarded when Santana smiles down at her and suddenly Rachel is hoping the Latina will kiss her again. But instead the cheerleader just tells Rachel that she'll be back at the end of class and turns to leave the room, the diva's eyes following her until she walks out of sight. Rachel is horrified to find she lets out a little whimper of disappointment when she can no longer see the Latina but is thankful that no one else seems to notice since they are all too busy talking to each other and ignoring the teacher calling for order from the front of the class.

Santana only just manages to get out the door and out of Rachel's view before she collapses against the wall letting out a deep shuddering breath. What she had done only struck her when she stepped out of Rachel's previous class in a rush of realization that left her light headed and breathless. Even though she would deny it, the Latina knows exactly why she'd kissed Rachel and she also knows exactly how much more she'd like to do to and with the girl if she ever got the chance, but she's pretty sure Rachel isn't going to okay with the kiss and would run a mile if she got even a hint of what Santana was day dreaming about which leaves Santana wishing she'd spent a moment thinking about the kiss before she actually did it.

Except she hadn't been thinking of anything at the time other than how beautiful Rachel had looked, sitting there looking up at her with those big brown doe-eyes and it had felt so natural to lean in and press her lips against the other girls cheek. Santana just considered herself lucky she hadn't gone for Rachel's lips, that might have earned her a slap on the face and she wouldn't be able to live that down any time soon. It had taken all her restraint to be able to turn up at the girls' class again and get her safely to the next one without repeating the kiss (or worse) and now she felt almost as exhausted as she did after one of Coach Sylvester's extra-long practices.

Luckily Santana had a free period before she has to help Rachel from her last class to her locker and then show up for Cheerios practice, so she turns and heads to the Cheerios locker room. A cold shower was definitely in order and she so needed to get out of her compression shorts before they killed her.

* * *

Santana collapses back on her bed in exhaustion. The trip from Rachel's last class to her locker and then her car had been even more taxing than she thought it would be and Santana had been a little thankful when she'd watched the diva drive away from school. And a little sad too.

Rachel had been on her mind so much that she'd managed to screw up in cheer practice twice and while Quinn managed to cover for her the first time, Coach Sylvester (who had suddenly reappeared from wherever she had been hiding) had spotted the second time and had decided to make Santana run suicides for the rest of the practice. Afterwards the Latina had never been so grateful to get in to a warm shower in her life.

And now she could really do with a massage. She could have called Quinn or Brittany, but they'd come as a pair and Santana knew Quinn wanted to talk to her about whatever was going on in her head, the glare she had received after the second screw up had told her that much. She so did not need that conversation right now so instead she dug out her Magic Wand, a joke gift one Christmas from Quinn that turned out to be just as effective for Santana as anyone else, and became probably the first person in America to use it for its original intended purpose, to sooth overworked muscles.

Well, it's original use at first anyway.

After she was done and had cleaned herself up, Santana looks at her laptop for a moment wondering if this was the appropriate time to let her parents know what was going on. She had no idea where they even were at this point so it wasn't worth worrying about time zones and while she was pretty sure that if she sent her Papi a text he'd get back to her, she could be waiting for his call all night and not hear anything. In the end she decides to wait until she has something more definite to tell them.

* * *

Santana doesn't know if she should be depressed, pissed off, nervous, excited, anxious or happy as she walks through the school doors on Friday morning. Depressed since she woke up again in a big empty house with no sign of her parents, not that she expected them to suddenly turn up in the middle of the night, but it would be nice to wake up to a family more often.

That thought brought her back to Rachel, was she family now? Sure the child she was carrying was Santana's, but is that all I was? She had been thinking her way around that pretty much all night and hadn't been able to come to any conclusion. Well, except how good she thinks it would be to wake up next to Rachel.

She was pissed off because someone had parked in her spot today and while students weren't technically assigned parking spots, everyone knows the two that were used by the two most powerful Cheerios. Well that particular car was now sitting on four rims, its tiers deflated not slashed since Santana wasn't in that much of a bad mood. Yet.

The other four emotions warring for supremacy are of course all about a certain brunette diva who Santana can't help but notice is not at her locker when Santana reaches her own. She's staring off into space in the general direction of Rachel's locker when Quinn and Brittany arrives.

"Why don't you just propose and have done with it." Quinn snarks.

"I think it's cute." Brittany says, "San's in love" she sing songs.

"Will you two stop?" Santana huffs turning back to her own locker and sorting through her books, "I am not in love."

"Sure, and you weren't just standing gazing at her locker like a lost, lovesick little puppy."

"Puppies are cute." Brittany offers.

Santana rolls her eyes, "Yeah Britt, they are. And that's why I'm not a 'lost, lovesick little puppy'" she says glaring in Quinn.

"Sure, and once you realize that Rachel is now at her locker, you won't…" Quinn starts.

Without hesitation Santana slams her locker door shut and turns to walk towards Rachel leaving Quinn and Brittany both giggling behind her. She doesn't remember she's supposed to be nervous until she's standing next to Rachel and has already said hello, but the smile the diva turns to her seems to make all her nerves melt away. It only takes a moment for Santana to realize Rachel is looking a little pale.

"Are you okay?" the Latina asks, "You don't look so good…"

Rachel looks around then steps forward into Santana's personal space, bringing her mouth near the Latina's ear and in the process filling her nose with the scent of vanilla. Rachel is so close that Santana swears she can feel the other girl's body heat and has to seriously resist the impulse to open her arms and pull the other girl into a hug.

"Morning sickness." Rachel whispers before stepping back.

Santana shudders, first at the touch of Rachel's breath on her neck, then at the sudden cold she feels when Rachel steps back and finally at the thought of someone being sick. Santana has a pretty strong stomach for most things but her one weakness, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, was someone else being sick in front of her. Her being sick, not a problem. Someone else and she is very liable to join them.

"I think Miss Pillsbury may be under the impression I'm suffering from bulimia." She says passing Santana a pamphlet entitled "So you like to throw up?"

Santana scoffs as she crumples the pamphlet into a ball, "That woman wouldn't know an eating disorder if she suffered from one." She turns and tosses the ball into a nearby trashcan before returning her attention to Rachel. "How's the foot today?" She can see that Rachel still has it strapped up and has her cane with her again.

"Not much different from yesterday to be honest. It'll probably be a few weeks before I'm fully fit again." Rachel answers with a grimace then asks "Does that mean you'll be carrying my books again today?" trying to appear too keen.

"Yup" Santana confirms happily, relieving the diva of her pile of books.

When they reach their Homeroom class, Quinn and Brittany are already sitting in their usual place at the back of the class. Santana moves to join them but doesn't deposit Rachel's books on her usual desk, instead placing them in the usually empty space next to her own normal seat. It doesn't take long for Rachel to take the hint and join the three girls at the back of the room.

"So are you two dating now?" Brittany asks enthusiastically.

Santana's eyes widen and she opens her mouth to speak but Rachel beats her to it.

"No Britt, Santana's just helping me out while my foot hurts. We're not dating."

There are a few moments of relative silence and in the noise of the classroom Santana wonders if she actually heard Rachel quietly add "Yet" or if she imagined it.

* * *

The day proceeds pretty much as the previous day did, though without any kisses for which Santana thanks her restraint and Rachel curses it. For classes they don't share, Santana appears in the classroom door just as the bell goes and collects Rachel's books before accompanying the diva to the next class. For classes they did share, Santana simply sat in her usual seat and placed Rachel's books in the space next to her, sometimes having to glare at the current occupant until they moved somewhere else.

Rachel didn't complain in the classes where she suddenly found her seat changed, though she did have some difficulty actually concentrating on her work when she was sure just the presence of the Latina next to her caused tingles up and down any limb that happened to be close to her. In one class she was so focused on the closeness of the Latina that she totally missed the teacher asking her a question which had caused Santana to nudge her gently. Rachel hoped the Latina didn't hear the barely suppressed whimper that had caused.

Glee arrives and Santana was once again sitting next to Rachel in the front row while Quinn and Brittany sat behind them. Finn arrives and once again glares at Santana who glares right back until he turns and walks over to sit by Puck leaving Santana with a smirk.

"You'd think he'd have gotten the message by now." Quinn observes in a disinterested tone.

"Maybe you should send him a letter Rach!" Brittany suggests happily.

"I have a depressing feeling he'd see that as encouragement Britt" Rachel says, then hurriedly adds "But thanks for the suggestion." When Brittany pouts.

It was about halfway through Kurt's rendition of… well something, Santana wasn't paying all that much attention to the performance to be honest, when Rachel starts to look really pale. Since she's sitting next to the diva, Santana doesn't immediately notice, but Quinn pokes her in the back and directs her attention to Rachel and just as Santana is about to ask if she's okay, the diva's hand shoots to her mouth and she bolts from the choir room.

Brad plays on for a few notes before faltering. Everyone including Kurt is staring at the door Rachel just left through with their mouths open.

"Rachel's been feeling a little sick since lunch, must have been something she ate." Santana improvises, "I'll see if she's okay."

Santana leaves by the same door Rachel did, though at a much lower speed, and silence once again falls in the choir room.

"Okay fine, since no one else seems to be willing to ask, I will. What is it with those two?" Mercedes says, "Satan went from complete Bitch to hanging around Rachel like a little puppy for the last few days. It's kinda freaky."

"What, you really want the Bitch back?" Quinn snorts, "Have you forgotten Monday and Tuesday already? I could tell Santana you just called her a puppy if you need a reminder." She offers.

Mercedes huffs, "I'm just saying she's planning something and if that fucks up our chances at sectionals…"

Quinn rolls her eyes, "There's nothing going on the concerns you or the Glee club."

Kurt narrows his eyes at Quinn, "You know something…"

"I know how to keep my mouth shut, unlike you two." Quinn retorts and then starts collecting Rachel and Santana's stuff, "Come on Britt, let's go see if Berry is okay."

They find Santana and Rachel coming out of a nearby girls' bathroom, Rachel looking slightly less pale with her hair up on a pony tail and Santana looking slightly more nauseous.

"Morning sickness?" Quinn asks passing Santana their stuff.

Rachel nods, "I'm starting to get tired of this."

"Well you know who you have to blame." Quinn says raising an eyebrow and smirking at Santana.

Santana rolls her eyes, "Whatever. I'm going to drive Rachel home, Britt can you bring my car?"

The journey to the Berry home is uneventful and Santana helps Rachel up to her bedroom, making sure she's comfortable and has a fresh glass of water before she turns to leave.

"Santana? Could you stay for a while?" Rachel asks hopefully.

"Sure"

Santana turns back into the room and looks around for somewhere to sit. She was about to walk over to the chair by Rachel's desk when the diva shuffles over in her bed and pats the space beside her. Santana suppresses a smile and crosses the bedroom to lie next to the girl who immediately curls into her.

"Just don't throw up on me, okay?" Santana says and receives a small nod back from the diva.

They lie there for a while before Rachel breaks the silence, "Thank you… for today. And yesterday I guess. For looking after me I mean."

Santana smiles, "No problem Rach. I promised I'd be there for you and I'm just doing what I promised."

"Yes, you did." The diva says thoughtfully.

There's another long silence and Santana is just wondering if Rachel has dozed off when the diva speaks.

"Okay."

"Okay?" the Latina asks.

"Yeah" Rachel nods, her hand going to her stomach "If you want to be there for us, it's not really fair for me to try and stop you."


	11. Chapter 11

They both must have dozed off at some point because the next thing Santana knows she's being shaken awake from a rather enjoyable dream. She's still half asleep when her eyes flicker open and the first thing she sees is Rachel's face smiling down at her. Santana smiles back, her hand rising almost entirely automatically to slip behind Rachel's neck and she pulls the girl down for a kiss. Even though it doesn't last long, even though it's not a huge romantic kiss and even though it's just two pairs of lips pressed together for a few seconds, it's enough to leave both girls breathless for a few moments.

"Well, hello to you too Santana." Rachel says when she catches her breath.

Santana suddenly realizes that this isn't a dream, that this Rachel is real and that she's just kissed Rachel. Again. She bolts upright on the bed and swings her feet off and onto the floor.

"I'm sorry…" she blurts "I-I didn't mean too… I'll just go…"

But before she can stand, Rachel's hand closes around her arm, "No, it's 2am and I'm not letting you drive anywhere at this time of night. I only woke you so you could change and get into bed properly."

Santana finally notices the sweat pants and tank top lying folded next to her on the bed and that Rachel has apparently already changed into her own tank top and shorts. Very short shorts. Santana's eyes flick between the door, Rachel and the sleepwear, her still half-asleep brain unable to decide what would be the best thing to do right now, until Rachel sighs.

"You're not going anywhere Santana, so you might as well get changed and get into bed." Rachel says in a tone that brooks no argument.

"But… I…" Santana starts the tails off.

"You kissed me, for the second time." Rachel says grinning slightly at Santana's awkwardness, "I kind of liked it, both times." This time she laughs as Santana blushes and looks away, "This doesn't have to be awkward, okay? Look at it this way, we've had sex, I've had your penis in my mouth for goodness sake. If we haven't let that make things awkward, why should a kiss or two?"

That really doesn't help Santana because now the memory of Rachel going down on her floats in her mind.

"Can I at least get some privacy to change?" she asks finally giving in to the inevitable.

"No."

"No?"

"No" Rachel confirms with a smirk though her cheeks turn a light shade of red, "Maybe I want to find out of my memory of that night is as accurate as I think it is."

Santana knows a challenge when she hears one and she isn't about to back down from one right now. She pulls off her sneakers and socks and drops them next to the bed. Her uniform top is next and she looks around for a moment before folding it over the chair at Rachel's desk where her skirt and spankies join it a few moments later leaving the Latina standing in sports bra and compression shorts. She glances over at Rachel an eyebrow raised but the diva is still sitting on the bed watching her evenly, so she reaches behind herself and releases the fasteners on her bra before peeling it off and dropping it onto the pile of her clothes.

She doesn't even pause before pushing the compression shorts down over her hips groaning with relief as she springs free. Like always when she takes them off, she starts getting hard pretty much immediately but instead of the partial erection she's used to when taking off the shorts, the knowledge that Rachel is watching her just makes her so much harder. She makes a point of folding the shorts and arranging her clothes before turning back to the bed to see Rachel's reaction.

"It's bigger than I remember." Rachel says absently before turning bright red and covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'll take that as a complement."

Santana takes the few steps over to the bed and reaches out to pick up the sweat pants, but Rachel's hand stops her.

"Will you be able to sleep like that?" the diva asks.

Santana glances down, "Usually when it's this… um… hard" she blushes, "I take care of it. But it'll go away its own."

"Take care of it?" Rachel asks, finally looking up at Santana

"Masturbate Rachel" Santana rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms, "I usually masturbate."

"Okay" Rachel nod.

Santana reaches for the sweat pants again but Rachel's hand stops her again.

"What?" Santana demands a little hotly.

Rachel gestures towards Santana's crotch, "Aren't you going to take care of it?"

Frankly given the glances Rachel was giving to a certain piece of her anatomy, Santana was surprised that she hadn't exploded all over the place already and that thought causes the image of herself coming all over Rachel's face as the girl licks her lips to float through Santana's mind. She shakes her head to clear her mind.

"Seriously?!"

"I just don't want you to be uncomfortable Santana."

Santana huffs and turns towards the door leading to the en-suite but only manages to take two steps before Rachel speaks again.

"Where are you going?"

The Latina rolls her eyes, though fully aware that Rachel can't see that at this point, and answers, "To 'take care of it', or did you want to watch?" she snaps.

It's the silence that makes Santana turn. She had expected a word of denial from the diva but instead there was nothing and when she turns to look, the brunette's cheeks are even redder than they were. Rachel isn't looking at her and Santana chews on her lower lip for a moment. She could admit the idea of Rachel watching was a turn on, she was so hard right now it was actually beginning to be painful and if she didn't do something about it soon…

"Do you want to watch?" she asks softly.

She almost doesn't see Rachel's very slight nod but she crosses back to the bed and lies down in the same spot she had dozed off on earlier.

"Got any lube?"

It might not take much to give her release, but Santana considers she might as well enjoy it. Rachel almost springs off the bed, pulling a box out from underneath; she extracts a small tube and passes it to the Latina after she pushes the box back under the bed. Interesting, Santana decides she'll have to investigate that later. The Latina waits for a moment to see if Rachel might offer her hand but when the diva makes no move, she applies some of the lube to her own before wrapping it around her cock and starting to stroke.

Santana keeps her eyes on Rachel whose eyes in turn track her hand moving up and down her shaft while she chews on her lower lip. The diva's eyes seem darker to the Latina and just as Santana starts to pant a little, Rachel's lower lips pops free and she too seems to be breathing slightly harder and that's all it takes to push Santana over the edge. Her eyes slam shut of their own accord, her hips pushing up even though there's nothing to push against, and ropes of cum are pumped all over her stomach as she moans with pleasure.

When Santana catches her breath and opens her eyes again, Rachel is staring at the Latina's stomach with wide eyes then she seems to instantly pull herself together and is offering Santana baby wipes and tissues. Santana cleans herself off as Rachel watches, tossing the used tissues into a nearby trash can and when she turns back to the bed she finds the diva about to climb under the covers.

"Don't you need to… you know… take care of something?" Santana asks.

Rachel just shakes her head and while Santana is pretty sure she's not telling the entire truth she doesn't argue the point. She has no idea why Rachel wanted to watch her or why it was so easy to let her, but that was something to consider another day because right now it's after 2 am and she seriously needs to get some sleep. She sits up on the bed, picking up the clothing Rachel put out for her but tosses them aside before climbing under the covers naked.

"Aren't you going to put those on?" Rachel asks

Santana shakes her head, "I prefer to sleep naked and I don't see much point given what you've just watched."

They lie on their backs side by side for a few moments before Rachel says more to herself than anyone else, "That doesn't have to make things awkward."

Santana isn't sure if the 'that' Rachel refers to is her current nakedness or the show she just put on for Rachel, but she answers anyway.

"You've had my cock in your mouth remember." Santana teases, trying to lighten the mood a little, "If that didn't make things awkward, why would this?"

Rachel doesn't answer but a few moments later she curls into Santana's side just as she had done when they had both first lay down.

* * *

When Santana wakes up she finds herself alone in the bed. The lack of another body curled against hers isn't surprising, she knows Rachel gets up at stupid o'clock even at the weekends, but she is kind of sad that Rachel wasn't there. Waking up next to the girl had to be pretty nice and Santana didn't miss that this was the second time she's woken up without Rachel after spending the night in bed with her.

At least this time she remembers that the girl had been there.

Memories from the previous night floated through her still half asleep mind. Standing there as she stripped naked, her cock painfully hard as Rachel's eyes devoured her. She had no idea what had come over her, to be able to stand naked and engorged in front of another human being without feeling even a modicum of shame, embarrassment or the need to hide. To have actually stripped voluntarily, willingly showing herself to the other girl and then jerking off…

No one had seen her naked in… well, Santana couldn't remember the last time, probably her parents some time when she was still a kid. Her doctor (medical, not Dr Michaels) had seen parts of her of course at check-ups, but the Latina was never totally naked in front of that women. And she'd always been very careful around everyone, friends at sleep overs and especially in the Cheerios locker room, so as not to give away her secret.

And then to have masturbated in front of her, specifically so she could watch. Santana just really couldn't comprehend it, how comfortable she felt around the other girl, how willing to do pretty much whatever Rachel asked. But then maybe it was the need she felt for the girl and the fact that it hadn't been the first time Rachel had seen her naked and that thought brought back other memories which Santana can't help but grin at.

The Latina looks around and finds the sweat pants and tank top she had discarded last night neatly folded on Rachel's side of the bed along with what looks like a clean towel which is probably for her use. She wonders for a moment why the baby wipes, tissues and lube are standing on the bedside table on her side of the bed, she remembers Rachel dropping the boxes onto the floor at her side of the bed the previous night, and then cringes as she glances down at the tent she was creating in the comforter. Was she that hard when Rachel woke up? The diva was going to think she was a nymphomaniac at this rate.

She debated going into the bathroom since it would be weird to do it in Rachel's bed, but then she'd done it on Rachel's bad last night with the diva watching and that hadn't been… well okay that had been weird but would doing it while Rachel wasn't there be worse? In the end she gave up trying to figure it out and took the sign that the Lube was right there as an indication that Rachel didn't mind. So she kicks off the covers, pulls over the other girls pillow so she can smell her scent, and once again makes herself orgasm while lying on Rachel's bed.

The shower is long and refreshing, but Santana notes that Rachel's soaps and shampoos seem to smell much better on the diva than they do on her. She emerges from the en-suite wrapped in a towel since she has no idea who might have wandered into Rachel's room while she was in the shower but the room is still empty. She pulls on her sports bra and compression shorts (though she doesn't really want to put them on) before pulling Rachel's tank top and sweat pants over them, finding that they actually fit quite well.

She's almost out of the room before she remembers the box and given how spotless Rachel keeps the bedroom, it takes no time at all to extract it from under the bed. Santana's not sure what she was expecting to find when she opens the top but it certainly wasn't what she actually found. As well as a collection of different types of lube, some flavored Santana notices, plus wipes and various cleaning materials; Rachel has the largest collection of toys Santana has ever seen.

There are a number of different types and sizes of vibrator and dildos, some love eggs apparently with remote controls, some things Santana can't identify, a couple of cock rings for some reason that the Latina can't fathom, a Magic Wand very much like Santana's own and, most surprisingly of all, a harness that looked like some of the dildo's could be attached to it. Santana pulls out a padded spanking paddle and examines it with surprise, who was Rachel planning to use that with?

"Wanky..."

Once Santana has repacked the box and shoved it back under the bed, she takes a moment to snoop around the upper floor of Rachel's house. She avoids Rachel's Dad's room, which the diva had pointed out to her the previous day, and discovers a large bathroom and what appeared to be an office. Appeared because there seemed to be a lot of stuff stored in there too along with a desk, chair and small rolling filing cabinet in one corner. Santana wonders exactly what will happen when Rachel has her baby, there didn't seem to be any space for a nursery.

She finally finds Rachel in the kitchen dancing along to whatever is playing through her iPod headphones while apparently trying to cook something. Santana leans against the archway that leads from the living room into the kitchen and dining room and appreciates the diva until she finally turns around and jumps at Santana's presence. The diva splits the pancakes she's been making onto two plates that are sitting on the table before placing the pan back on the stove and pulling the headphones from her ears.

"So you're up then." She observes with a smirk, "Or should I say you're awake then, since you were 'up' earlier."

"I took care of that before I got out of bed." Santana deadpans, "Hope you don't mind."

"I'm already pregnant, what's the worst that could happen?" Rachel shrugs.

"Are your Dad's around today?"

"No, they went away for the weekend." Rachel says passing Santana a note, "They didn't want to wake us when they looked in on us yesterday before they left." She chuckles at Santana's look of alarm, "Before we actually went to bed." She adds.

"And they were okay with us…?"

"I'm already pregnant Santana, what's the worst that could happen?" Rachel repeats.

Santana shrugs, "Does that mean I can take off these compression shorts?" she asks.

"Why did you even put them on?"

"Well, because I didn't know if I'd bump into your dads." Santana supplies, "Or if you minded me going commando in your sweat pants, or if I was going to be spending any time here."

"And now you are planning on spending time here?"

"Well, you made pancakes…"

Rachel rolls her eyes, "Just go take them off."

But Santana doesn't go anywhere, she just stands, pushes the sweat pants off her hips and down her legs before kicking them off and removes the compression shorts with a sigh of relief before pulling the sweat pants back on. When Santana looks up she laughs at the expression on Rachel's face.

"What?"

Rachel can apparently only wave her hand at Santana, "You… just…"

Santana smirks, "It's nothing you haven't had a very good look at before Rach."

"But it's unsanitary!" Rachel declares, which causes Santana to burst out laughing, "What?" the diva demands.

"It's not like I rubbed it on the table or something." Santana says, "And besides, you're the one that had it in her mouth."

Santana reaches over and relieves Rachel of one of the plates of pancakes and digs in while Rachel just stares at her with red cheeks and her mouth hanging open.

"Oh and by the way, I put your lube back in your toy box." She adds with a wink.

* * *

Santana excuses herself just after noon with the promise of returning in a couple of hours and head over to her home. They had been curled up together watching musicals on the sofa in Rachel's living room when the Latina received a response to the text she sent a couple of hours before and so she climbs the stairs to her room, flips open her laptop, logs in to Skype and waits.

Fifteen minutes later, and only five minutes late which was a minor miracle, her father's name appears on her contact list and moments later she receives an incoming call. Santana had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to work out how to tell her parents what she needed to tell them, but hadn't come up with any way other than the obvious.

The picture comes up and her parents are apparently sitting at a desk somewhere in front of large plate glass windows, Santana isn't sure if they are sitting in a hotel room of an office somewhere. The cityscape that is visible behind her parents is not familiar to Santana but it's obvious that it's a different time of day wherever they are. And despite the fact that they had called to speak to her, her parents were still flicking through piles of paper on the desk in front of them.

"I hope this is important Mi'ja" her Papi says, "Your mother and I are very busy right now."

And with that any thought of sugar coating the news went straight out of Santana's head.

"Mami, Papi, I need access to my trust."

"We talked about this Santana" Her father says, "If you want a new car you have to save up from your already generous allowance."

Santana rolls her eyes even though they've still to look at her, "This isn't about a car Papi, I got a girl pregnant."

That got a reaction, her father actually freeze for a full five count before slowly (and finally) looking up at the screen. Her mother actually drops the reference book she had been holding that landed with a huge thump that didn't quite cover her gasp of shock. Santana's mother blinks rapidly at the screen as if she can't process the information she just received, but her father looks more calculating.

"Rachel Berry?" he asks.

Santana's jaw falls open and she's pretty sure she's doing that thing she's seen the characters in Disney cartoons do when she watches them with Brittany and Quinn, where their jaw hits the floor and their eyes bug out. Never in her life would she have guessed her father would have picked that name out of god knows where.

"What… How…?"

"Mi'ja you've talked about her ever since you met her, the little girl with the big voice, how much you loved to listen to her sing. The first thing you told me when you're friends persuaded you to join that glee club was that Rachel Berry was the star."

Santana is beginning to wonder if she was the only one that didn't realize she had feelings for the little diva.

"Are you sure it's yours Mi'ja? If she found out about your trust fund…"

"No one knows about the trust fund Papi, not even Quinn and Brittany. I had to persuade her to even let me be involved because she was scared we'd both get stuck in Lima." Santana shakes her head that looks back at her father, "No Papi, I trust her. If she says its mine, its mine."

"And she's keeping the child?"

"That or adoption." Santana says but quickly adds "But I plan to file for custody if she decides on adoption."

"So you're serious about this then?" Her father asks.

"Deadly."

Silence falls again and her father seems to be deep in thought so Santana's takes a moment to check out her mother's reaction and is surprised to find she's crying. "Mami?"

Between her sniffs, her mother gets one word out, "Grandchild."

Santana can't help but smile. She was an only child, her parents never trying for another baby themselves and though they never talked about why, sometimes Santana wonders if they were scared to have another child with the same condition as her. Her parents had been told long before she could understand that there was little chance of her having children and maybe that was why they had started to spend as much time away from home as they had.

"Yeah Mami, a grandchild."

"Okay" her father says, "I need to be there in person to release your trust in full, but I'll call the lawyer and arrange as much access as I can until we get back."

"Papi, I need the Lima House too." Santana adds.

* * *

After a long argument with her parents, they had finally agreed to give Santana access to what they had always called the Lima House, even although the house they now lived in was also in Lima. They hadn't been happy with her plans but she had pointed out to them that she'd lived along for the best part of six months in the last year anyway and if her plans concluded as she thought they would, she'd be spending a lot less time alone.

Once they had finally agreed, Santana had made additional calls. It was going to take some time to get everything sorted, the basement was going to take the longest it turned out, but thankfully the house had been redecorated and furnished a couple of years ago and with the regular attendance of a housekeeper, there was only a few things that needed to be taken care of.

A little less than two hours later Santana was back standing on Rachel's doorstep as promised with an overnight bag on her shoulder and a satisfied smile on her face. Rachel opens the door with a beaming smile on her lips and Santana can't help it, she steps forward and presses her lips against Rachel's cheek once more.

She giggles at the flush that covers Rachel's cheeks as they exchange hellos and Rachel leads her into the living room once more. They settle down onto the sofa once more, Rachel curling into Santana just as she had when they had went to bed in the early hours of that morning and Santana once again kisses Rachel, this time on the forehead.

"Is it okay for me to kiss you like that?" she asks quietly. When Rachel just nods, she adds "And at school next week?"

"If you want to."


	12. Chapter 12

In the end they both decided it would be best if they kept things subtle when they were at school. Rachel still had some time before she would start to show and even with the occasional bouts of morning sickness, something Rachel was thankful wasn't worse than it actually was, they thought they had a month or so at least, possibly two months, before they couldn't hide the pregnancy any more.

So they agreed that they would take some time to figure out what was going on between them before they had to handle the stress of telling others about it and the pregnancy. They weren't going back to how they were before New Year though; Santana still helped Rachel from class to class even though the girls' ankle was improving by the day and they were pretty much inseparable even at school.

But kisses at school were stolen only in moments of privacy, when they arrive at class before anyone else, when they find themselves alone in a hallway with no one else around or when they spend time in the auditorium together at lunch time. But kisses at home were a whole different matter. They very quickly went from pecks on cheeks and lips that would causes giggling sessions and blushing to full on make out sessions that only stopped when Rachel's fathers were around.

Santana also found out what being involved in Rachel's pregnancy actually meant.

The first time Rachel calls Santana during the night is the Wednesday after her discussion with her parents at just after 2am. Santana had only crawled into bed a few hours previously after spending most of the evening arguing with the interior designer and going through sample book after sample book and furniture catalog after furniture catalog to find the perfect decorations and furniture for the room. There was still far too much to go through.

Santana's initial sleepy reaction is to ignore her phone, but it only takes a few notes for her to recognize Rachel's ringtone and she's suddenly more awake than she's ever been, heart thumping and chest full of dread as she fumbles with the phone in the process of trying to answer it.

"Rachel! Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Santana demands.

"I've run out of ice cream." Rachel sniffs

Santana is more than a little confused, "What?"

"I've run out of Blue Bunny Mint Choc Chip ice cream." Rachel repeats, "Do you have any?"

"It's not something I usually buy Rach. How do you even have that stuff, is it even vegan?"

"Dad usually has a carton in the freezer, and no it's not vegan. Don't remind me."

"Then why are you eating it?" Santana asks

Rachel huffs down the phone at her, "Are you seriously asking a pregnant woman why she's eating something she'd never usually touch with a barge pole? Just get me some more ice cream!"

This was followed by the click of Rachel hanging up and a groan as Santana collapses back onto the bed. She's tempted to just text Rachel to get her own ice cream, but she did ask to be involved so she rolls out of bed, drives to the other side of town, buys a couple of cartons of ice cream and drives back to Rachel's house where the presents the ice cream to a very thankful and apologetic diva. This is when she's introduced to pregnant Rachel logic.

"You're not driving home at this time of night." Rachel says as Santana turns to leave.

"Rach, I've just driven across town twice to get you ice cream, I'll be fine driving home."

"No, come to bed."

And really, who was Santana to argue? She strips off and crawls into bed next to Rachel who quickly curls into her side, apparently no longer bothered by Santana's nakedness. The next morning was the first time that Santana woke with the diva still curled into her side and Santana was happy to find the experience was just as amazing as she thought it would be. At school the next day, Quinn and Britt asked her why she was walking around with a stupid grin on her face.

Over the next two weeks they ended up getting into a routine. Rachel would call Santana (usually at night) asking if she had something that she was suddenly craving, Santana would drive across town to Wal-Mart and back picking up whatever Rachel wanted and then the diva wouldn't let her drive home instead insisting the Latina spend the rest of the night in her bed. And though all they ever did was spoon and kiss, Santana's body cradling Rachel's throughout the night, those nights sleep were some of the best Santana had ever had.

Things changed on the Saturday morning before Valentine's Day. Rachel's fathers had called through her door at a time that Santana would call too damn early in the morning to remind Rachel that they were going out shopping in Columbus and would be back later. Santana wasn't sure if they knew she was there, they had given up being surprised at her appearing apparently out of nowhere in the morning and once they found out why she was there they were just thankful it wasn't them getting woken up by Rachel, but they respected Rachel's privacy so Santana hadn't been worried that they'd walk into the diva's bedroom and find her in her undressed state

When they woke, Santana had been spooning Rachel. The smaller girls back pressed against the Latina's front and Santana's arms around Rachel's waist in a position that had become common for them. Common too was Santana's erection pressing hard against Rachel's ass but the diva had never complained or even commented on that. Normally when Rachel headed for the shower, Santana would roll onto her back, kick off the covers, deal with the morning wood and by the time Rachel was out of the shower, she would have cleaned up the mess and be ready to hit the shower herself.

But today just as Santana's fingers close around her cock, the bathroom door suddenly opens and Rachel marches into the room, coming suddenly to a halt with widening eyes as she sees the Latina on the bed. Santana's expression is, for a moment, very much like a child caught with their hand in the cookie tin before a sly grin spreads across her lips.

"Want to watch again Rach?" the Latina asks.

Rachel doesn't answer but instead climbs back up to kneel on the bed just level with Santana's hips. Her eyes have never left Santana's hand and the Latina watches them follow her hand movement as she pumps it up and down her shaft once spreading the lube she had just applied to her hand along its length, leaving her cock glistening in the morning light. Rachel's hand has moved apparently of its own accord, her finger tips just a few inches away from Santana.

"C-Can I… can I touch it?" she asks, her cheeks turning bright red in the process.

Santana nods as she releases her cock and pushes herself up on her elbows, "You've already done much more than that."

Santana's eyes slam shut as Rachel's hand makes contact, her finger tips just ghosting over the Latina's length before being drawn back. She can't help the moan that escapes her throat at the touch and if that touch is all she's going to get right now, she's going to burn it into her memory and never forget it. But Rachel seems find some courage and moments later her whole hand closes around Santana's cock before slowly sliding along its length.

"¡Ay dios mío!"

"Am I… am I doing this right?" Rachel stutters, her hand moving slightly faster back and forth along Santana's length, "I-I'm not sure what I'm doing."

"You're doing fine Rach" Santana manages between gasps, "Just… fuck… just don't stop!"

So Rachel doesn't stop, she keeps her hand moving back and forth squeezing tighter when Santana manages to gasp out a request for her to do just that. The diva can't help but grin as she watches the effect she's having on the Latina, Santana's squirming around on the bed with her eyes squeezed shut and panting heavily already, her hands tangled in her own hair and her whole body flexing with the movement of Rachel's hand.

Santana is pretty sure that she's about to explode. Each stroke seems to increase the pressure in her belly even though she feels like she's already beyond the point she should have exploded. And then she does explode, her eyes rolling up into her head, her whole body stiffening and arching off of the bed as she screams wordlessly, pumping her seed all over her stomach.

Once she is able to force her eyes open she finds Rachel examining her own cum covered hand so she turns and grabs the tissues and wipes from the bedside table to pass to Rachel, but when she turns back she finds Rachel cautiously licking the sticky substance from a finger. She seems to evaluate the taste for a while, her head cocked to one side in apparent thought, and then Santana's can't help but giggle at how eagerly the diva licks clean the rest of her hand. The giggle turns to a moan as Rachel's tongue and lips start to attack her stomach.

"I'm sorry" Rachel says as she sits back, hiding her face with her hands, "I don't know why I did that."

Santana grins, "Hey, it's okay Rach. Some people like the taste and some don't. Apparently you really, really like the taste." Santana says, "And look at it this way, it's one hundred percent vegan and comes in a very attractive wrapper."

Santana's eyes roam over the other girl as she slowly lowers her hands from her face, her eyes are dark, her breath comes in short pants and the Latina can clearly see the outline of very hard nipples. And of that wasn't enough, Santana is sure she can smell the other girls arousal.

"Rach… Can I touch you?" she asks gently.

Rachel shakes her head quickly, "I'm okay."

"No, I don't think you are. Look."

Santana places a hand on each of Rachel's knees, gently applying pressure until Rachel allows her legs to part and the darkened crotch of her light grey shorts is visible.

"I'm not going to force you into anything you don't want" Santana says as she runs her fingers over Rachel's cheek, "but I'd love to make you feel like you just made me feel. And I swear, if you tell me to stop, I will."

Rachel chews her lip for a moment then nods once. Santana smiles and places a hand on the Latina's shoulder.

"Lie down." The Latina says quietly.

She guides Rachel down to lie on the bed next to her then returning her hand to the diva's knee. As she slowly slides her hand up Rachel's thigh she feels the girl stiffen.

"Relax Rach. Remember, all you have to do is say stop."

She waits for a moment and Rachel nods but doesn't say anything so she starts moving her hand again. She makes it all the way up to the damp patch on the diva's shorts and as soon as her fingers make contact, it's Rachel's turn to moan. Any reservations the diva had seems to leave her as Santana presses her fingers against swollen lips, Rachel's hips bucking automatically as she searches for more friction.

"Rach, I'm going to take these off now." Santana says as she runs her fingers under the waistband of the diva's shorts.

She waits for a response and, when Rachel nods and lifts her hips, Santana makes quick work of pulling the shorts down the diva's long legs and over her feet. She's astounded to find that Rachel isn't wearing any panties under the shorts and all she can think about is the nights they've slept so closely together with only a single thin layer of cotton between them.

"Is something wrong?" Rachel anxiously looking down at Santana's sudden immobility.

"No Rach, you're just… you're perfect."

Santana wouldn't admit it but she was a little nervous. She sincerely wanted to make Rachel feel as good as she had but the Latina had never done this before and she was a little scared that the diva wouldn't enjoy it or worse, she'd accidentally hurt her. Santana is well aware of her body's limitations and had long ago decided that, should she be lucky enough to find a girl that actually accepted her for what she was, she was sure as hell going to be able to make sure the girl was satisfied even if she herself was already spent.

So she's read books, watched instructional videos, watched porn (though she's well aware just hour ridiculous most of those are, no one has any right to go near anywhere sensitive with nails that long for example) and generally tried to educate herself on how she can please another woman. And yes, there was that one time she walked in on Quinn knuckle deep in Brittany, Brittany whose back was arched well off of the bed and who was using curse words the Latina didn't even know, and all Quinn had done was grin and wink at her while she made the other blonde scream. After that Santana had considered asking Quinn for advice, but she was too worried the blonde would offer her hands-on experience and she wasn't entirely sure she could handle that.

She slowly climbs back up the bed, sliding one hand up the improbable length of Rachel's leg and watching the goose bumps form as she goes until she is once again lying next to the diva, her hand high up on Rachel's inner thigh.

"Okay?" Santana asks.

She gets a nod in rely and moves her hand the remaining distance as Rachel automatically spreads her legs a little more. If the heat coming off the diva was surprising, the amount of wetness between her legs astounds the Latina, she knew Rachel was turned on but this was unbelievable. Santana spends a little while just exploring, trying to work out what she was touching without turning it into some type of medical examination, but it doesn't matter since Rachel's responses indicate she's enjoying the gentle touches anyway.

The Latina's fingers ghost over Rachel's entrance and the diva jumps almost a full six inches off of the bed causing Santana to grin manically. A moment later she finds the other girls clit and Rachel moans, rocking her hips up towards Santana's hand. The Latina keeps exploring and stroking and rubbing, her fingers sliding through Rachel's soaked folds and with the girl writhing and moaning on the bed next to her, Santana can't help feeling a little proud of the reaction she's causing.

"I-Inside… please…" Rachel gasps.

Santana doesn't hesitate at the request, quickly pushing one finger into the diva's channel and oh god she's so tight and hot that the Latina thinks she might pass out from the feeling. She holds still when she hears Rachel whimper but a moment later she whispers 'okay' and Santana starts moving her finger in and out building up a steady rhythm as she slides her thumb back over the diva's clit. It only takes a few moments before Rachel is screaming louder than Brittany ever did.

Santana extracts her finger and wraps her arm around Rachel pulling the smaller girl against her body and they both doze off again.

* * *

"No!" Rachel huffs and stamps her foot, "I'm not doing it."

She had been in Glee practice when she had received the text from her fathers informing her that her afternoon appointment at the therapist had been cancelled and requesting that she went directly home. Now she's standing in the living room at just after 5pm and has just been told that she's been set up on some sort of blind date for Valentine's Day.

To stay with their plans of keeping everything under everyone's radar, Santana and Rachel had jointly decided to avoid any overt show of affection at school for Valentine's. But Rachel did have to admit that she was a little disappointed that Santana apparently hadn't made any plans for the day after school, even if it was just a meal and a movie.

But then Rachel wasn't even sure they were dating. They spent a lot of time together certainly, Santana would walk her from one class to another, spending lunches and evenings and even weekends with her and was always willing to run to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night, though Rachel would admit (only to herself of course) that she might call Santana a little more than absolutely necessary since waking up being held by the cheerleader was Rachel's favorite thing, second only to actually kissing her. Well, maybe third favorite thing when she thinks about it.

But they hadn't talked about what they were doing except to agree that they'd keep it under the radar at school and they certainly hadn't been out on a date. They had kissed a lot. That mind-blowing contact of lips and tongues that left her head spinning and her heart racing. And then there was Saturday and Rachel still wasn't sure how to classify that, it wasn't quite sex but it wasn't just kissing either but one thing that she did know was that it was good, she didn't just about black out every day. And that had to mean something right? Santana wasn't just doing all this for the sake of the baby? Rachel was still holding out hope that maybe the Latina was just waiting for the weekend to sweep her off her feet.

And now her fathers had ruined what little pleasure she had today with the news that they'd set her up on a blind date (please God, don't let it be Finn!) and all Rachel was sure of that she was not amused.

"Look Rachel, all you have to do is change into casual clothes and open the door when your date arrives." Hiram pleads, "If you don't want to go out with them then, no one will make you."

"Casual Clothes!" Rachel declares, "It's not even a proper date!"

"Please Rachel…"

"Fine" Rachel huffs, turning on her heal and marching out of the room, "But only to get this charade over with." A moment later she marches back into the room, "When is he coming?"

"Your date will be here at 6pm."

Rachel stomps up the stairs to her room. She'd much rather stay at home and watch a musical, even if she had to do that alone, then go out on a date because all she'd end up doing is worrying that she's about to throw up over everything. Well, whoever it is she opens the door too, she's not going anywhere tonight. Maybe she'll call Santana and see if she can be persuaded to come over.

She strips off her school clothes and heads to her shower, stopping on the way to examine her naked body in the full length mirror in the corner of her room. Her stomach was still flat without any sign of the life that is growing within and Rachel wonders how much longer that will be the case. Sometimes she actually finds it hard to believe that her body is doing something so amazing and she sighs as she strokes her stomach, deciding she is actually looking forward to being able to see some evidence of the miracle.

An enjoyable shower and a session with the hair dryer later, she's pulled on some underwear and is considering what 'casual' clothes to put on to send the right message to her 'date'. Dress down with sweat pants and a t-shirt to show she doesn't care, or dress up a little to show she was putting in an effort only not for them when she slams the door in their face? In the end she goes for a pair of black jeans and a blue button down shirt, it's not really the sort of thing she wears at home but she'll look good for Santana if she comes round later.

The doorbell rings exactly on time and Rachel has to give him his due for being on time. A moment later her daddy calls up to her to come answer the door but she waits for a count of five before she leaves her room. She was going to wait for the count of ten, but she can't bring herself to keep him hoping that long. She opens the front door and is presented with a bunch of roses, a little cliché but still nice, so she accepts the flowers.

"Thank you for the roses, however I'm sorry to say… Santana!" she squeals in delight as she finally looks up and jumps into the other girls arms.

"You're sorry to say what?" Santana manages after recovering from Rachel's assault, "Do I have to find another date for tonight?"

"No!" Rachel declares, "Just let me change and I'll be right out."

But Santana wraps an arm around the other girl's waist to stop her running back into the house, "You're fine as you are; we're going to get changed in a bit anyway. So put on some shoes, grab your purse and jacket and we'll be on our way."

"Changing? But where are we going? Don't I need to…?"

Santana interrupts Rachel's questions with a kiss then turns her around to face the house, "Just do as I tell you and all will be revealed, keep asking questions and I might have to use one of those paddles on you." She jokes. Rachel's head whips round and Santana can see the diva's darken, "Like that idea do you?" the Latina asks with a smirk and Rachel looks away but Santana can see her blush, "Maybe later, now go and get your stuff" Santana encourages Rachel with a gentle smack on her ass.

When Rachel steps back out of the house only a few moments later, Santana is standing by the open passenger door of her car. She helps Rachel into the car before closing her door and then sliding into the driver's seat.

"Ready?" Santana asks.

"Where are we going?"

Santana only smiles back, "You'll see."

It only takes a few minutes to reach the outskirts of Lima and it's only when they turn on to the highway that Rachel's attention turn back from the scenery to look expectantly at Santana. The cheerleader ignores this until the diva is pretty much bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Okay, go on. Ask."

"Where are we going?" Rachel demands, "What are we doing?"

"We are going to Columbus." Santana says steadily, "I have a room booked in a hotel where we will change into the dresses I have for us in the trunk. Then we are going for a meal in a little restaurant I know which has one of the best vegan selection in the whole of the city and then… well, you'll find that bit out when we get there."

"But… But I don't have any suitable shoes!" Rachel complains, "Or my makeup, or…"

"Or nightclothes." Santana interrupts casually.

"Or nightclothes, or… wait, what?"

"Well, given the distance between Lima and Columbus your Dads agreed that we could stay in the city overnight and skip school tomorrow." Santana says then adds, "As long as I swore I would look after you."

"Skip school?" Rachel asked incredulously, "My fathers agreed to that? What about our grades?"

"I can turn around right now…" Santana starts.

"No!" Rachel says quickly, "But what about my stuff?"

"Quinn and Brittany helped me out during their free period today. I've got your overnight bag with everything you need in the trunk."

* * *

They arrived at the hotel about twenty minutes earlier than Rachel was sure they should have, Santana must have been driving with a lead foot. But then there's an argument at reception between Santana and the receptionist that seems to get rather heated, but just as Rachel was about to walk over and find out what was happening when Santana turns and walks back towards her with a smile.

"They screwed up my booking and double booked the room." She explains, "But I got us an upgrade."

"Okay." Rachel answers then adds "And?" when Santana looks a little nervous.

"They have a conference in this week and the only room left was the… um…" Santana stutters a little, "the Honeymoon suite."

Rachel just shrugs, "As long as it has somewhere to change, a shower and a bed, it'll do." She says as she heads towards the bank of elevators across the lobby totally missing the grin the spreads across Santana's face.

When they get to the room, Rachel's eyes widen in surprise. Luxurious isn't the word, she's pretty sure the bedroom itself as probably about as large as the whole footprint of her whole house and the bed it contains is like a fairy tale. It's a massive light wood four poster with pure white drapes and bedding that looks like it could take five or six people at the same time. Rachel is very tempted to dive into as soon as she sees it but Santana ushers her into a changing room while reminding her they don't have a lot of time before dinner and they still have to get to the restaurant.

And that's why Rachel almost ignores the note she finds on the top of her just opened overnight bag, right until she notices the two wrapped parcels underneath.

_Rachel,_

_I hope you don't mind but when Brittany and I were packing for your night away, we couldn't find anything really suitable for wearing under the dress that Santana has bought for you, so we've got you a little gift or two._

_The pink package is for wearing with the dress, the white package is for the bedroom tonight, though you might only want to wear that if you decide sleeping is the last thing on the agenda for the night. If you know what I mean…_

_Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do!_

_Quinn_

Rachel glances up at the dresses hanging on the back of the door. There are two, one that Santana had bought for her and another from her own closet since the Latina wasn't one hundred percent sure that the dress she bought would fit or that Rachel would wear it. Rachel sets the white package to the side to open later and rips the wrapping off of the pink package.

White underwear. No, not just underwear, lingerie. All satin and lace, bra, panties, a garter belt and stockings, the old fashioned type that have a visible seam up the back, and Rachel can tell that these items are a lot more expensive than her usual underwear. But there's also a pair of those gel bra things, the stick on pads that give you some support where you normally can't wear a bra, and some double sided clothing tape.

She strips off, putting on the panties, garter belt (after some false starts, she's never worn one before) and stockings before crossing to the door and taking the cover off of the dress Santana bought. She's immediately breathless, the dress is just gorgeous and while it's a little daring, nothing in her wardrobe would come close to looking as good as this. She just has to wear it.

Back to her overnight bag and a little more searching and she finds shoes (obviously new) and a purse to match the dress and, just as she's about to give up, the exact light weight jacket she knew she had that would go perfectly with the dress. It looks like Quinn knew exactly what Santana had bought.

After some false starts and a little fumbling, she manages to apply the gel bra before finally slipping on the dress and using some of the tape to make sure nothing pops out when she doesn't want it to. Slipping on the heels, she steps in front of the full length mirror in the corner to check herself out.

The silk dress is peach, the cut is simple yet somehow sophisticated; the slightly flared skirt falling to just above her knees, the front of the bodice almost clinging to her curves with a neckline that doesn't dip so low at the front so as to display anything Rachel didn't want displayed. But the back is cut low, right down to the small of her back leaving a lot of skin visible, leaving the shoestring straps that curve over her shoulders to cross in the middle of her otherwise naked back. Which explains why Santana thought she might refuse to wear it.

As conceited as it may sound, Rachel has to admit that she looks amazing as she gazes into the mirror.

She grabs her purse and jacket, she'll put that on just before they leave the hotel so Santana has a chance to appreciate the dress too, and walks over to slip through the door to the bedroom.


	13. Chapter 13

Rachel's eyes find Santana across the room standing before her own full length mirror and for a few moments Rachel forgets how to breathe. From where she's standing she can let her eyes rove over both Santana's front and her shapely rear and if she thought the dress she was wearing looked amazing on her, Santana's fiery red version of exactly the same dress looked… well, Rachel couldn't find the words.

"Hey" Santana said, turning from the mirror and looking Rachel up and down, a smile forming on her lips when she sees what Rachel is wearing. "You wore it."

"How could I not?"

"You look amazing."

"You look… wow."

"Rachel Barbra Berry lost for words?" Santana smirked.

Rachel takes Santana's outreached hand and she's pulled tight against the other girls' body, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss as she's spun around until her back is towards the mirror. She doesn't even realize Santana's exploring hands have lifted the back of her dress until she feels the Latina's fingers sliding under the edge of her panties.

"Santana!" she says batting Santana's hand away and straightening her dress.

Santana hums, "Just wanted to see if you got the same present from Quinn as I did." She says then brings her lips to Rachel's ear and whispers, "Mine are red."

Rachel looks at her with raised eyebrows for a moment before she took the opportunity to spin Santana around and pull up the back of her dress, much to the Latina's obvious amusement. The diva's a little disappointed to find that Santana is wearing her compression shorts along with the garter belt and stockings. Santana just shrugs and smiles sadly as she smooths down her dress.

"Come on" Santana says taking Rachel's jacket and helping her put it on, "Let's go."

They make it down to the lobby in a few minutes and Santana leads the way out of the front doors. When Rachel stops, not seeing Santana's car waiting for them, the Latina back tracks to take her hand and lead her over to a limo waiting at the Curb.

"This is James, our driver for the night." Santana says indicating the man standing by the opened rear door of the car.

"Actually it's Andrew, Miss." The driver says.

"And I'll still be saying 'Home James' at the end of the night." Santana says with a glare at the driver who simply stands there impassively.

She holds out her hand for Rachel and helps her into the limo before climbing in herself and allowing "James" to close the door behind them. Rachel looks around the limo with wide eyes. It seemed much bigger on the inside with bench seats down most of either side only interrupted by a minibar that Rachel noted was filled with soft drinks. There seems to be acres of wood, miles of chrome, hundreds of little twinkling lights everywhere and, Rachel suddenly realizes, not one inch of leather.

"You got me a vegan limo?" she asks incredulously turning towards Santana.

The Latina just shrugs, "Apparently there are enough people even in this city that don't want to park their asses on leather that someone thought it was worth cornering the market." She says nonchalantly.

"You got me a vegan limo…" Rachel breathes, still stunned by the revelation.

Santana arranges her face into her trademark smirk, grateful that she had thought to put the effort in. "It's a hybrid too, gets more miles that that little toy Prius of yours. Apparently."

"You got me a vegan limo!" Rachel shouts as she wraps her arms around Santana's neck and kisses her, repeatedly.

Santana eventually manages to disengage herself from Rachel, though they are both giggling happily, and Rachel takes another look around the now moving car. She's never been in a car like this before and had realistically only expected to when she got to the stage in her career when she was winning awards, though she'd still probably be paying for them herself. And with that thought it occurs to Rachel just how much Santana must be paying for this one night. A hotel room, two dresses, two pairs of shoes, a vegan limo, a meal in what she supposed would be a quality restaurant given the effort Santana was putting in already and whatever else the Latina has planned for the night.

"Santana! You shouldn't have spent this much! How can you afford this?"

"Trust me Rach, this is fine." Santana smiles as she reassures the diva, "Just enjoy the evening. And don't worry; I won't be going to this expense for every date. I like picnics in the park just as much as you do."

While Santana may have been trying to reassure the diva, only two words made any impact on her. 'Every date'. Rachel beams at the other girl before leaning over and kissing her on the cheek leaving the cheerleader to wonder exactly what she had done to generate that response. Santana turns to watch the city go by outside the window but Rachel just watches Santana. She can see the Latina is excited to be going wherever they are going, even if she's trying to hide it and the excitement is infections. Rachel has to restrain herself from bouncing up and down in the seat, so instead she slides her hand into Santana's and gives it a little squeeze.

Santana turns to look at her and smiles.

They reach the restaurant a few minutes later and Santana climbs out of the car gently pulling Rachel with her before they walk to the door still hand in hand. A doorman opens the door for them allowing them to step inside and before Rachel can get a good look at the place, Santana gives her name to the Maître de, though from the look of recognition and smile on her face Rachel is pretty sure Santana didn't really have to say a word, and they are shown directly to a small secluded table for two at the back of the restaurant.

Candles were lit, glasses filled with water and a waiter was offering them menus all within seconds of Santana pulling out Rachel's chair for her. For once Rachel finds herself spoiled for choice when examining the menu. Instead of a few token vegan options a whole half of the menu is dedicated to vegan and vegetarian options, Rachel doesn't think she's seen anything like it before, certainly there is nothing in Lima that matches up to this.

"What will you have Rach?" Santana asks from across the table.

Rachel takes a moment to examine her options then chooses a starter and main course leaving a decision about any desert until later. Santana adds her own selection to the order and the diva is surprised when she orders a vegan meal too.

"You don't have to order vegan Santana" Rachel points out.

Santana shrugs and reaches across the table taking Rachel's left hand in her right, "Don't get me wrong Rach, I have no intention of living off of rabbit food. But I'm not about to take you out on a date and eat meat in front of you." She shrugs, "And besides, Britt and Quinn have tried some of this stuff and they seem to think it's awesome so I doubt I'll be disappointed."

"You've brought Quinn and Brittany here?" Rachel asks.

She has no idea why, but she feels a little disappointed that this isn't just a place for her and Santana, but then when she thinks about it, the three of them are pretty much inseparable most of the time. Or have been until Santana started spending time with her. So she tries to push away any jealousy she might feel.

"A few times, they tend to come on their own more often now."

"How did you find it?"

"My parents fixed it." Santana says. When she sees Rachel's look of confusion she explains, "My parents are fixers…"

Rachel leans forward looking around nervously, "Like mafia?"

"Apart from being the wrong ethnic group" Santana says with a genuine smile, "No. Well, sort of but legal. They get called in to businesses which are having problems, financial, personnel, suppliers, anything really, and they sort it out. Finding new suppliers, hiring and firing people, restructuring and reorganizing, even managing lines of credit if necessary. The banks know them and their reputation and are more likely to give a company in trouble a loan if they go through my parents than if they go directly to the bank. The end target always being a working, profitable business."

"And they are good at it?" Rachel asks, surprised.

"Very, they've only had one failure in as long as I can remember and that owner was an idiot." Rachel can't help but note the tone of pride in Santana's voice, "Sometimes the end result is nothing like the original, divisions may have to be closed or the whole business might have to be redirected, but the end result is usually good."

"So this place was in trouble?"

"Nope, this place is way too popular. No, the owner's wife owns a chain of small stores." Santana pauses and looks thoughtful, "I can't remember what they sell now, but they were making a loss and the owner was using profits from this place to subsidize them."

"Is that legal?"

Santana shrugs, "They are both privately owned companies and the owner of this place has every right to draw on the profits. But when my parents sorted out the other business, the husband gave them some vouchers for a few meals which they passed on to me and I brought Britt and Quinn out here for a free meal."

Just about then their starters arrive and they both start to eat. Rachel's thankful that her choice is easy to eat with only one hand since Santana hasn't yet let go of her left hand and Rachel isn't about to pull it out of the other girls grip. She eats slowly wanting to enjoy the meal and not wanting it to be over too soon, and so she has a chance to both observe Santana and have to good look around the club. Santana's first few bites are a little tentative, and then she seems to start enjoying the food which makes Rachel happy. Santana might not be turning vegan any time soon, but it looks like they'll be able to share some meals together.

The restaurant itself is huge, much larger than Rachel initially assumed. There must have been maybe a hundred tables spread around the room apparently randomly except for a few broad avenues, one of which seemed to reach from the table they were sat at all the way to the small stage in the middle of the far wall. There was a small band on the stage and while there was a lone microphone in a stand right in the middle, there didn't seem to be a singer tonight.

Just as Santana finishes her starter and wipes her lips with her napkin, something behind Rachel catches her attention. Rachel sees her look up and then nod once before standing.

"Excuse me Rach, time to get my singing on."

"Singing?" Rachel looks a little surprised.

"Ever heard the saying 'sing for your supper'?" Santana asks with a wink before swaying her hips towards the stage.

Rachel feels her mouth go dry as she watches her go and once she can pull her eyes away from the Latina's retreating rump she notes that a number of the other patrons have also noticed her progress and are turning expectantly towards the stage while the overall chatter noise drops.

"Hi y'all"

Santana had nodded a greeting to the band and stepped up onto the stage as if she owned the place which makes Rachel think that she's done this before, often. The shouts of "Hello" interspersed with occasional wolf whistles she receives in return confirm Rachel's suspicions.

"Well, I'm sorry to say the rest of the Unholy Trinity isn't here tonight since I'm on a date with my… someone very special."

Rachel isn't sure if the noises of disappointment are for the fact that Quinn and Britt aren't here or because Santana was on a date but she did notice the pause when Santana had been talking about her. 'My what?' she wonders.

"So I'm only going to do one song tonight before I get back to my date, so enjoy while you can." Santana continues with a grin before turning to the band, "Hit it!"

It takes maybe five notes before Rachel's eyes open wide in recognition. She's matured enough, especially recently, to recognize that other people around her have amazing voices too (thought she still knows her voice outshines them all) and Santana definitely falls into that category, but this? Barbra? Was Santana really going to sing 'Don't Rain on my Parade' in front of her?

It turns out she's not because she misses her cue and a moment later is stopping the band, which falls quiet way too quickly for something that wasn't planned.

"Stop, Stop! As much fun as it would be to have a go at that song, I really don't have the voice for it." At this point she's looking directly at Rachel, "But I know someone who does. What do you say Rach? Feel like singing for us?"

The waiter who had been standing off to one side is suddenly offering her a microphone and heads are starting to turn to look at her and if there's one thing Rachel Barbra Berry doesn't do its refuse a public performance. She takes a sip of her water and nods at Santana, standing and accepting the offered microphone.

Santana grins at her and then she throws out the hand not holding her microphone towards Rachel causing anyone not already looking in Rachel's direction to turn, "Ladies and Gentleman, Rachel Barbra Berry!"

Rachel, of course, hits her cue and every note in the song. She gives it her all, skipping up and down the aisle for the first half of the song, literally skipping and even finding someone to tweak at the bit about the hat, before making her way onto the stage for the second half of the song. The band is good, they respond to her as much as she responds to them, and at the end when she's hitting the last high note she's sure the performance was as near to prefect as could be expected under the circumstances. She hasn't had as much fun on a date… well, ever.

But the band doesn't stop at the end of the song, they do a complex little segue into a totally new song, one that Rachel also knows but when she lifts her microphone to presumably sing with Santana, the Latina's hand stops her. Santana's fingers brush Rachel's cheek for a moment before her hand slides down Rachel's arm and their hands are linked. It takes Rachel a few moments to fully understand, Santana is singing Songbird but she's not singing it to the crowd, she's singing it to Rachel, to only Rachel.

She's staring directly into Rachel's eyes and singing 'I love you, I love you, I love you' like there is no one else in the room. To Rachel if feels like the rest of the world has melted away leaving just her and Santana in their own little bubble. Her heart is thumping in her throat as if it's about to explode and for a few moments she actually forgets how to breathe. Santana's glazing at her singing with such sincerity and honesty that it's impossible for Rachel to miss, a flood of emotion fills the little diva's chest and a tear slides down her cheek. When Santana finishes and the music dies away, all Rachel can do is stand for a few moments with her mouth open, totally unable to find any words as tears finally roll down her cheeks.

And then she throws herself into Santana's arms, her own wrapping around the Latina's neck as Santana's close around her waist and they pull each other as close as they can. Rachel can't risk actually kissing the Latina right now because she doesn't know if she'd be able to stop or to stop at just kissing and she's pretty sure the restaurant owner doesn't want that kind of show in his restaurant. So they stand there in each others arms for a while, allowing the rest of the restaurant to fade back into reality and letting the applause from the crowed wash over them before they finally release each other. Santana takes the microphone from Rachel and passes it along with her own to one of the band members before sliding her hand back into the diva's and nodding towards their table.

"Come on Rach, I think our main course is ready."

* * *

"So how did 'The Unholy Trinity' end up as regulars?" Rachel asks as they settle back into the limo for the trip to the next part of the date.

"Well, they have this semi-open mic night…" Santana begins.

"Semi-open?"

"A place like that they can't just let anyone sing, so you generally have to audition in advance. You don't have to be a professional or anything but you have to be a decent singer." When Rachel nods, the Latina continues, "So the three of us happen to turn up on one of those nights and Britt decided she wanted to sing…"

Rachel nods, knowing where this is going. "And no one can resist Brittany's pout."

"Exactly, and they couldn't say no to her when she started to tear up either. Eventually they let us sing and we brought the house down. Any time we go back they ask us to sing for them, open mic night or not."

"But tonight was planned." Rachel observes.

"Yeah, it was." Santana admits.

The diva watches Santana for a moment, the Latina obviously nervous is trying to look anywhere but at Rachel but is trying not to appear to be ignoring her either. Rachel decides to let it slide for the moment.

"So where are we going now?" she asks.

"Part two" Santana says with a grin, "It isn't Broadway but it is a show. Les Miz."

Rachel's eyes almost pop out of her sockets, "Really?" she demands.

"Really" Santana assures her with a nod only to find Rachel throwing herself at her again.

"You are amazing Santana."

They arrive at the theater a few minutes later just in time for the start of the show, but Santana pulls Rachel away from the obvious entry to the main seating area and to a small staircase at the side.

"Santana? Aren't the seat's that way?" Rachel asks confused.

"See, I had to buy the tickets at a little short notice and this show was pretty much sold out even for today, so I didn't have much choice in which tickets I got." Santana admits.

"So where are we going?"

Rachel's pretty sure she can see Santana smirk even through the back of her head, "Our private box."

* * *

Santana tried to behave, she really did, but honestly she isn't really that into musicals. Performing in them yes, watching them, not so much. Oh if Rachel was up there on the stage Santana could have watched her for hours without a problem, but Rachel wasn't on the stage. In fact right now Rachel was sitting on her lap and that was a little distracting.

When she had booked the box she'd found out that not only would they have it to themselves, but they would have a choice of standard chairs or a large love seat. So when they had arrived in the box she'd taken a moment to close the door and allow Rachel to choose where they sat. The diva hadn't even blinked, she'd dragged Santana over to the love seat and pushed her down before plopping herself down on the Latina's lap and leaned back against her allowing Santana to wrap her arms around her waist. Santana had been very happy at this originally but she hadn't realized how distracting it would be after a while.

Which made behaving even more difficult.

It started innocently enough, Santana's fingers drawing patterns on Rachel's silk sheathed stomach before first one and then both hands started to roam. Fingers trailing up and down the diva's sides, hands caressing hips, nails dragged along thighs. It wasn't conscious at first, Santana's hands moving with a mind of their own, but before long the Latina was very deliberately, very slowly and very gently exploring almost every part of Rachel's body that she could reach.

Almost every part.

Outwardly Rachel seemed nonplused, staring intently at the stage and lost in the performance which the Latina took as permission to continue. In actuality the exact opposite was true. Rachel was so turned on right now it felt like her whole body was vibrating and she was sure she had lost the ability to see since she had no clue what was happening on the stage right now. When one of Santana's hands coasts over a breast she had to bite down on her lip to stop from moaning loudly.

It had started in the pit of her stomach when she'd walked in to the bedroom and had first saw Santana in that dress. Watching her hips sway as she'd walked towards the stage at the restaurant hadn't helped either and after Songbird it had taken a lot of restraint not to jump the girl right there on the stage. The rest of the meal and short journey in the limo had helped her cool down a little which had given her false confidence that sitting on the love seat with Santana would be fine. Turns out she was wrong, so very, very wrong. And now all she could manage were short panting breaths, her finger nails digging into the palms of her hands as she tries to control her bodies reactions to every little touch of the Latina's hands.

Santana's body could feel Rachel's body responding to her touches, the blazing heat of the girl's core against her thigh, the occasional twitch of jump when Santana touched something sensitive and despite Rachel's attempts to remain quiet, she could still hear the diva moan very quietly once or twice. All Santana wants to do at this very moment is rip off her compression shorts and take Rachel over the back of the love seat but they haven't done anything like that since New Year and the Latina isn't sure if Rachel is ready for that yet.

So instead Santana makes do with sliding her hand off of Rachel's thigh and between her legs, cupping the diva's core through her now soaked panties. The moan that is torn from Rachel's throat almost makes Santana orgasm right there and then but after a few moments of frantic concentration she manages to regain control of herself. She runs her fingers back and forth across the wet material pressing gently against the diva's folds and smiles when Rachel's legs automatically part for her. She spends a few minutes teasing Rachel by running her fingers back and forth, pressing gently against the other girls clit before sliding her fingers down towards her entrance and is rewarded by more shuddering gasps and plenty of small whimpers from the highly aroused diva.

When she decides she's teased Rachel enough she sliders her soaked fingers up over the material of Rachel's panties to the waistband, sliding just the tips under the elastic before stopping.

"May I…?" she breathes quietly into Rachel's ear.

"If you don't fuck me right now Santana" Rachel manages between pants, "I'm never going to let you touch me ever again!"

Rachel doesn't even care if anyone can see them right now, so when Santana's hand slides into her panties and two fingers penetrate her without hesitation, the moan that rips from her throat is a little too loud but is lucky covered by the sudden start of a group song from the stage. Rachel's hips buck unconsciously and one of her hands grasp Santana's wrist to make sure she doesn't stop but Santana has no intention of stopping right now.

With her free arm wrapped around Rachel's waist to hold the shaking her in place, Santana's fingers pump in and out of the diva's sodden core. Santana can't believe how hot and wet Rachel feels, the only other time they've done this she only used one finger but right now she's having no trouble burying two into the girl.

"Another?" she asks.

At Rachel's nod Santana draws out her fingers and then pushed three inside the diva. She can already feel the diva tightening around her and Rachel's is quietly chanting "Oh god, oh god" so she knows the girl is close. Her thumb reaches for the girl's clit and just as she presses it she curves her fingers as she pushed them into the diva and Rachel explodes around her fingers.

Her whole body stiffens and shakes, her hands shoot up to cover her mouth to stop her crying out and Santana's fingers get squeezed tightly by the girls walls but she keeps her fingers moving, helping Rachel to ride out the rest of her orgasm and when the diva finally relaxes a few minutes later, Santana slips her hand out of the girls panties and slowly licks them clean. By the time she's done, Rachel is snoring softly in her chest. Santana smiles and kisses the diva on the forehead.

* * *

"I don't think I can walk yet" Rachel says still looking a little vague.

"You have to Rach" Santana says trying to help the diva to her feet, "The shows over and we have to leave."

When she gets Rachel rather shakily to her feet, she slides one of the diva's arms over her shoulders and wraps her arm around Rachel's waist. It takes them some time to make it down the stairs and one of the theater staff hurries over worriedly when she sees Rachel in her current state. Santana explains that Rachel is just tired and they only have to make it to the limo outside before doing just that. As she climbs in to the back seat after Rachel, the driver asks her where she wants to go now.

Santana takes a look at Rachel still slightly out of it sitting next to her, "Back to the hotel I think please Andrew."

"Home James!" declares Rachel before giggling, bringing one arm up to gesture and managing to smash it off of the car roof.

By the time they arrive at the hotel, Rachel has perked up quite a bit and has been looking at Santana in a way that makes the cheerleader slightly worried. Rachel bounds out of the limo on her own and actually skips over to the bank of elevators, waiting for Santana to arrive before pressing the button for their floor. She hums casually until they arrive at their floor then lets herself into the suit before disappearing off into the changing room.

"I'm going to get changed for bed." She calls over her shoulder to Santana.

* * *

She knew as soon as Santana's hand slipped into her panties that the Latina wanted more. She knew because she also wanted more than just fingers inside her right then too but something also told her that Santana would never push her for it, waiting instead for her to initiate. She had no ideas how she knew that, but she was certain of it.

So when they arrived back in their suite, the first thing Rachel does is head straight to the dressing room her overnight bag is still in and rips the wrapping off of the white package that Quinn and Brittany had left for her. Rachel isn't entirely sure that the two items that fall out can actually be called clothing. The black satin thong is… well a thong and the negligee (or maybe it was a baby doll or a slip? She wasn't sure) was so transparent it almost wasn't worth putting on.

But she kicks off her shoes, slips off her dress and strips off the now ruined underwear, garter belt and stockings. The gel bra was a little more tricky to remove, and a little painful, but she'd rather have that than have them fall off at some inconvenient point. She slips the thong up her legs and getting it situated, thankful that she shaved that morning, before she pulls the negligee over her head and stepping in front of the full length mirror.

Immediately she understands Quinn's advice because when she sees herself in the mirror she wants to rip her own clothes off. The negligee might be sheer, but it's just thick enough to give her a bit of mystery and make it look like she's not totally naked. She wouldn't be happy walking along the street in this outfit, but that's not what it's for or what she's planning on doing. _That_ it is totally suitable for.

She takes a steadying breath before opening and stepping through to the bedroom. She finds Santana sitting on the end of the bed, feet dangling off of the end and looking off into the distance as if in deep thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Rachel offers.

"I was just thinking…" and that's how far Santana gets before she at least temporarily loses the ability to speak.

Rachel can't help but smirk as she watches Santana's mouth fall open even as her eyes rove up and down the diva's compact body. She steps forward, slowly walking toward Santana making sure to swing her hips a little more than normal, one hand resting on her hip like she's seen Santana and Quinn do as they walk through the school. Santana follows her all the way to the bed where she climbs up and straddles the Latina's lap, one knee on each side of Santana and facing the girl, and makes herself comfortable, linking her hands behind Santana's neck.

"Hi" she says quietly.

"…" Santana's mouth opens and closes but no sound is produced.

"Are you tired?" Rachel asks playfully, "Do you need to sleep?"

Santana can only shake her head but her hands rise to rest on Rachel's hips.

Rachel leans forward and presses a kiss on Santana's lips, then her neck before lifting her lips to Santana's ear and breathing a question, "So are you going to take off those shorts and fuck me now?"

Santana's whole body jumps at the words but her hands are already lifting Rachel's negligee over her head. As soon as the diva's arms are free, she takes her turn to pull off Santana's dress only to find that the other girl hadn't bothered to use a gel bra, her hands immediately finding Santana's pert breasts as the pair's lips crash together in a passionate kiss. The Latina manages to wiggle out of her garter belt without displacing Rachel, but the compression shorts aren't going to cooperate and they eventually have to break apart and stand up so Santana can get them off. While she's doing that, Rachel goes to push off her own thong only for Santana to stop her.

"Don't, I want to do that."

The compression shorts finally fall to the floor accompanied by Santana's usual groan of relief. Santana's erection stands full and proud between and Rachel just wants to reach out and touch it, so she does, running finger tips along the length causing all the muscles in Santana's torso to twitch and making her produce a loud groan of pleasure.

"I don't like you wearing those things." Rachel tells Santana.

Santana just shrugs, "They're necessary."

"But I don't like them."

"I know." Santana smiles at her sadly again.

Santana stepped forward and pulled Rachel against her and while they kissed, Santana's tongue sliding between Rachel's lips to explore her eagerly offered mouth, the Latina's fingers find Rachel's thong and slowly pushes them down over her hips and letting them fall to the floor. For the first time, not including New Year because they were both drunk and neither can remember it very well, they are both totally naked before each other, the whole length of their bodies pressed together without any barrier between them.

Rachel had thought she'd be nervous but instead this feels so right and natural that she never wants it to end. Rachel's mind flashes back to the New Year party, the only time she's really been in charge, the only time she's been on top and she suddenly realizes that is exactly what she wants and needs right now. She knows Santana has always deferred to her when they have been doing anything, allowing her to set the pace and limits, but the Latina has always been in charge, the one pushing things forwards within the limits Rachel supplied. Right now it was her turn to do the pushing.

Literally.

She pushes on Santana's hips until the other girl starts taking small steps backwards. Moments later her legs hit the edge of the bed and, with a giggle and a shove, Rachel pushes her onto her back, Santana landing with an ooff. Rachel is on top of her immediately, straddling the Latina's thighs and leaning down to crash their lips together, trapping Santana's erection between their bodies.

She rocks her hips, grinding into the Latina and causing a moan to tear from her throat. Rachel takes advantage to Santana's open lips and thrusts her tongue into the other girl's mouth instantly finding Santana's oddly submissive tongue. Rachel's pretty sure Santana's hands are touching her everywhere at once as their tongues dance together in the Latina's mouth and because Rachel is supporting her weight with one hand, that only leaves one to return the favor with.

She does her best though, free hand roaming over Santana's body until it found a breast, stroking the soft round skin she quickly finds the Latina's already rock hard nipple. That reminds her of something else that's hard and see rocks her hips again, pressing herself against Santana's cock and the cheerleader actually breaks away from the kiss to moan loudly, her body reacting automatically by pushing her hips up against Rachel.

Rachel can't handle any more, she needs Santana inside her and she needs it now. She springs upwards, much to Santana's surprise, and a moment later her hand is wrapped around the Latina's cock. She's pushing herself up with her thighs, positioning herself over the other girl and just as she's about to lower herself onto Santana's cock…

"Stop!" Santana shouts.

Rachel of course does because she's not about to force Santana to do anything she doesn't want to, but she is a little confused.

"What?"

"I need to get a… a…" Santana stutters.

"A…?" questions Rachel

"A condom." Santana manages to blurt out while she blushes a little.

This just confuses Rachel even more, "Why?"

"Um… protection?" it's more of a question than an answer.

"Santana, have you has sex with anyone else since New Year?" Rachel asks evenly.

The blush on Santana's cheeks becomes more pronounced, "I've only ever had sex with you Rach."

"And I've only ever had sex with you Santana" Rachel replies and she can plainly see the joy that's reflected in Santana's face at that statement. "And I'm pregnant." She adds evenly.

"I know that." Santana says and now it's her turn to be confused.

"So what exactly are you trying to protect us from?" Rachel asks gazing straight into Santana's eyes.

"Um…"

Santana really didn't have an answer for that, she just knew she had sort of screwed up once and wasn't willing to screw up again. She wasn't even paying attention, her eyes roaming randomly as she tried to work out exactly what she had been thinking, it was so hard to concentrate with Rachel naked above her like that and with the diva's hand still wrapped around her cock. And then both of their eyes slammed shut as Rachel finally lowered herself onto the Latina's cock then leans forward to whisper in her ear.

"I need to feel you come inside me." She says as she flexes around Santana's cock, "I need to feel you fill me…"

And Santana did fill her, the Latina stretched and filled her and made her feel amazing and that was even before they started moving. Rachel may have a box of various sized toys under her bed, but she hasn't exactly worked up to the larger ones yet and Santana is quite a bit bigger than anything she has used but the feeling of fullness is familiar, she remembers it from New Year when they were both in a very similar position on a much smaller bed in a certain guest room and she doesn't even attempt to stifle the groan of pleasure at the feeling. This felt so right, this felt so perfect, like it was meant to be, like they'd been made for each other, like Rachel had found her home.

Santana was groaning too, not only because she was suddenly and unexpectedly buried hilt deep and in hot wetness between Rachel's leg, but the diva was simultaneously sucking on her neck and squeezing her breast with the hand she wasn't holding herself up with. Santana hadn't even figured out what to do with her hands yet. They floating over Rachel's body uncertainly, twitching this way and that as the brain that is supposed to control them is entirely distracted by other sensations.

"Touch me." Rachel demands directly into Santana's ear.

So Santana does, her hands come down a little harder than absolutely necessary on whatever they happen to be over at the time, which turns out to be Rachel's ass. Rachel squeals and jumps but that just causes her to slide along Santana's cock and they both moan again as the diva pushes herself back down the length.

Santana is over the initial surprise now. She leaves one hand attached to Rachel's ass because damn… that's one fine ass to have a handful of, and she drags the fingertips of the other up and down the diva's spine and is rewarded with a groan and shudder from the other girl. Santana has a sudden need to see the diva, and since she's still sucking on the Latina's neck in a way that would make Santana's knees go weak if she had been standing, something has to change.

She runs her hands up Rachel's perfect skin until she can gently push at the diva's shoulders. The smaller girl pushes herself up and looks down at Santana with confusion, but then Santana's hands cup her cheeks and pull her down until their lips meet in a sweet and chaste kiss, a kiss that quickly becomes wanton, tongues dancing between mouths, lips trapped between teeth and tugged on, breaking apart only for a second for a much needed breath. They are still kissing when Rachel rolls the bottom half of her body having decided they had been just lying there for too long, rocking her hips back and forth to allow Santana's cock to slip in and out of her.

They both moan into the others mouth, finally breaking from the kiss to lie gazing into each other's eyes as Rachel's continues the rocking motion. Santana's hands find Rachel's hips and squeeze them, guiding her up and down as the diva reset her forehead against Santana's and continues to stare into the other girl's eyes.

Neither girl has much experience in bed at this point, so they don't have much in the way of stamina either. Add to that the last few hours of flirting, teasing, touching and full blown penetrative sex (with the added bonus of the thrill of possibly getting caught) and both girls know they aren't going to last very long. But it doesn't matter, both of them know without even talking about it that this is not going to be the last time.

So neither of them are surprised that Santana's hand slipping between their bodies and grazing Rachel's clit is enough to send the little diva into convulsions of ecstasy, the feeling so much more intense than anything she's ever felt before. The diva's arms give way and she lands on Santana as she pretty much screams into the Latina's ear. Her whole body is shaking from the waves of pleasure rushing through it and Santana's cock, buried deep inside the diva, is subjected to her pulsing walls clamping down on it and making the Latina unwind, her free arm pulling the diva's shaking body tight down on top of her as her hips cant up, trying to push her cock deeper before she finally comes, pumping her seed into the very fertile and already impregnated girl on top of her, her own cries lost under the ear-shattering noises that Rachel is still making.

When the aftershocks finally pass and both girls are able to move once more, Rachel slowly rolls off of Santana, whimpering as the other girl slides out of her, to lie on her back on the bed. Santana rolls onto her side, her arms finding the other girl and pulling Rachel into her body, the need she feels to be close to the diva can't be ignored.

"How long" Rachel finally manages between pants, "Before you can go again?"

"I have no idea." Santana answers honestly.

"We'll find out."

They lay there in silence for a little while, Rachel curled in front of Santana, her back pulled hard against Santana's front with the Latina's arm protectively around Rachel's waist, feeling the beat of each others hearts in the quiet room and luxuriating in the feel of skin on skin contact. It occurs to them both that this is the first time since New Year that they've actually been naked in bed together and though they don't know it, they both feel that this is perfection.

Rachel was no longer sleepy however and moments of silence can be severely over rated, "Santana, can I ask you something?"

There are a few moments of silence from the girl behind her and just as Rachel begins to think that Santana might have fallen asleep, the Latina answers.

"Quid pro quo?" When Rachel nods, Santana agrees, "Okay."

Rachel chews her lip for a moment wondering if she should really ask, but she is curious. "Since you've never actually slept with anyone else" she starts slowly, "How did you get your reputation at school?"

"I have a reputation?" Santana asks and Rachel can hear the smirk in her voice.

"Yes" Rachel confirms, "And while it may be fake" she swallows, "It is entirely accurate."

Santana chuckled and Rachel moaned as she felt the other girl's whole body vibrate against her.

"It started in freshman year, do you remember Paul Sheldon?"

"Um… no" Rachel answers after a moment.

"Well, he got transferred before the end of the year. And he was a grade A asshole that didn't like taking no for an answer, which is exactly what I told him when he propositioned me. Not for a date, he just wanted to get laid and wasn't happy when I told him where he could stick his cock. He started spreading rumours that we had done it the next day."

"And you let him?" Rachel asks surprise.

"Oh I considered stopping him, I could have quite easily even back then but it occurred to me that they might not be a bad thing. What better protection is there for someone with my condition than having a reputation like that? Who is even going to entertain the thought that I might not be normal? If it's a choice between being wrongly seen as easy or a freak, I'll pick easy every time."

"And the girls?"

Santana shrugs, "In some ways girls can be a lot like boys, and this is one of them. After I came out I got a lot of offers from girls, some of them you'd be really surprised at. And when I turned them down, they just said I hadn't."

Rachel nods, she can appreciate the decision Santana had made. If she'd been in the Latina's place she might well have done the same thing. Her contemplation is cut short when Santana speaks again.

"So my turn, why do you have a large box of sex toys under your bed?"

Rachel flushes but decides to answer honestly, "You know how pregnant woman get cravings?"

"Oh yes, I remember the mint choc chip ice cream vividly, even if was 2am in the morning. And the pickles, which was disgusting by the way, and the strawberries and the… Do I need to go on with the list?" Santana jokes.

Rachel playfully smacks the arm that's wrapped around her waist. "Well, it seems that when my mother was pregnant with me she had a different type of craving, one that seems to run in the family."

"What kind of craving?" Santana asks and Rachel cringes a little at the tone of the question.

"Sex" she says quietly.

Rachel feels the Latina stiffen behind her, so she has a good idea of what question will be asked next.

"Is that what tonight was about?"

The tone of Santana's voice makes Rachel's heart ache and she can feel the tension suddenly build in the room. She rolls round in Santana's arms so she's facing the other girl, and while the Latina hasn't pulled away, she's not looking at Rachel either. Rachel's hand finds her cheek, gently encouraging the girl to look at her.

"Santana, look at me…" Once she is sure she has the Latina's attention she gazes directly into her eyes, "No Santana. We made love tonight because I wanted to make love to you. I wanted that connection with you. I wanted to share myself with you. Not because I was craving sex. I would never do that to you Santana. I…" she swallows, suddenly realizing what she had been about to say and that, as much as it was true, she wasn't ready to say that yet. She settles for "I wouldn't do that to you."

The Latina stares into Rachel's eyes for a long moment, searching for and easily finding the honesty and openness shown there and then Rachel feel her relax again, "I believe you." She says with a small smile and just like that all the tension drains from them both, "And you bought a strap-on because…?"

Rachel blushes and hides her face on the crook of Santana's neck. "The harness came as a free gift with some of the other items. I didn't actually order it."

"But you ordered the paddles?" Santana asks with a quirked eyebrow

"They seemed like a good idea at the time."

Santana hummed in agreement, "Quinn and Britt seem to think so too."

"Do they tell you everything they get up to?" Rachel questions.

"I don't know if it's everything" Santana admits with a thoughtful look, "But usually its way too much. But I'm just wondering who you were expecting to use them with."

"I hadn't really thought that far through, and I wanted to complete the order before Daddy changed his mind and asked for his credit card back."

"Your father paid for your collection of sex toys…" Santana said very slowly, eyebrows comically raised and obviously not quite believing it. Rachel just giggles.

"My turn", Rachel declares. She takes a moment to think before asking "How do your parents feel about you and I having a child?"

"My Mama's just happy she will have a grandchild. I think I told you they said I'd probably never be able to have any, right?"

"Yeah" Rachel answers, her mind going back to the conversations they had not that long ago. How much it must have hurt to be told that she might never have children and then find out that she had gotten Rachel pregnant only to believe the diva was having an abortion, how happy she had been when Rachel had corrected that assumption. And suddenly Rachel is blinking back a tear that threatens to slide down her cheek.

Santana notices and gently wipes the diva's eyes with a tissue, "Hey, there's no need to cry you know, they were wrong after all."

"I was just… It must have really hurt when you thought I was getting an abortion."

"Yeah it did." Santana agrees sadly, "I won't lie Rach, it hurt a lot and honestly I had no idea why it hurt so much. But my therapist helped me through it and I've never been so thankful to actually have someone to talk to before. And hey" Santana says trying to lighten the mood, "It was just a misunderstanding anyway, it all worked out fine in the end."

"What about your Dad?" Rachel asks when she realizes Santana hasn't mentioned him.

Santana sighs, "He's the same as ever. Distant."

"Your parents aren't around a lot, are they?"

"No, they're not. They've been gone six months of the past year, probably more than that now. And I just got a text that they weren't going to be back any time soon from this trip."

Rachel wraps her free arm around Santana's waist in an attempt to pull her closer and comfort her, "Do you miss them?"

"I… Yeah, I do. I tried to talk to them about it once but… Well they said they'd try and be around more but it never worked out. But Quinn and Britt used to sleep over a lot to keep me company and still do some times. And I know there's a hot pregnant chick that sooner or later will call me up with a craving and I'll get to spend the rest of the night in her bed."

'And' Santana adds in her own head, 'Soon I won't be living alone any more. I hope.'

Rachel doesn't know if she should feel happy that Santana thinks she hot, or sorry that the Latina's so lonely, so she decides on a small smile and a reassuring squeeze. But there is a question she needs an answer to even if she's not sure she'll like the answer. The question has been in the back of her mind for a while now and she's been trying to ignore it, but before she falls any more for this girl, Rachel really needs an answer. She needs to know if she should protect her heart of offer it up for the other girl's safekeeping.

"Santana, what exactly are we doing?" She asks, and then quickly adds "I don't mean to imply anything but sometimes I wonder…" she trails off.

"Wonder what Rachel?" Santana asks gently when the diva trails off into silence.

Rachel takes a breath, steeling herself for what could be a very bad response to her question, "If you're just doing all this because of our child or if… if there's a chance for something more."

With her face still buried in Santana's neck, she doesn't see the smile that appears on Santana's lips but she does recognize the serious tone in the Latina's voice when she speaks.

"I'll answer that with a question of my own." Santana says, "Rachel, I know we were thrown together because of the baby but honestly I wouldn't have slept with you at New Year if I didn't feel something between us, even if I didn't realize it at the time. I don't do casual hook-ups even when I'm drunk. So I guess what I'm saying Rach is, would you be my girlfriend?"

Rachel is unable to speak for a few minutes, her mouth opening and closing uselessly a few times before she managed to squeak out "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Santana confirms.

"Yes!"

It turns out it takes Santana somewhere around thirty minutes to recover, though they didn't actually time it, because they celebrate their new status by wearing each other out again.

* * *

The first thing Santana notices when she wakes up the next morning, before she has even opened her eyes, is the lack of a certain diva in her arms, in fact out thrown arms reveal that Rachel isn't anywhere near her on the bed. There is something on going on however since she seemed to be totally without any covers and she would swear that someone was sucking on her …

Her head shoots up from the pillow and eyes snap open to find Rachel wrapped in a sheet lying across the bed at a ninety degree angle to Santana's naked and uncovered form, seemingly totally engrossed in her current task. Santana can barely believe her eyes or what she feels as Rachel's lips slowly descend her shaft until she's entirely engulfed by the diva's mouth.

She has a vague memory of this happening before, a memory of Rachel telling her that she has no gag reflex, a point she's proving once again, and Santana wonders for a moment how she could ever have forgotten this feeling. She only wonders for a moment because right then Rachel chooses to swallow around her cock and start humming and her brain seems to stop working immediately, her head crashed back onto the pillow. All she can do is stare up at the canopy of the bed panting heavily and whimpering every so often and let Rachel do whatever she damn well pleases, Santana couldn't stop her if she tried. Not that she wanted the diva to stop, no way in hell would she ask for that.

She's not sure how long Rachel's been busy, but she's knows it's been a while because the normal morning tension has been replaced by something way more urgent, something that she's pretty sure is going to resolve itself pretty damn soon.

"Rach…" When Rachel doesn't acknowledge her she tries again, "Rach…" no response. "Rach…? Oh Fuck… Rach I'm-I'm gonna…"

She thinks Rachel got the message which is lucky since Santana has pretty much lost the ability to speak right now, but the diva's lips are slowly sliding up Santana's cock and if she can hold on a few more moments… Except the tension in her abdomen has gotten so bad that holding on is actually painful, except that Rachel's mouth stops with Santana's glands still inside, except Rachel chooses that moment to run her tongue over the tip of Santana's cock.

"Fuuuuuuuck!"

The coil in Santana's stomach unwinds and she has to resist thrusting her hips up to bury her cock deeper in Rachel's waiting and as it turns out very receptive mouth. Rachel doesn't stop sucking or licking until Santana is truly spent, her lips forming a seal around the other girls cock and ensuring she swallows every drop of the Latina's offering and once she's done she releases Santana before discarding her sheet and arranging herself so she's lying on top of the other girl.

"Morning San and thank you." She says as she presses little kisses over the Latina's neck and jaw.

"Thank you?" Santana asks a little confused and still slightly dazed.

"Mmmm" Rachel hums, "I love the way you taste."

They lay there for a while, Santana's arms wrapped around the girl lying on top of her, before the diva speaks again, "What time do we have to check out?"

"One" Santana says as she searches for the bedside clock, it has just turned 10am, "I got us a late checkout."

"Good idea" Rachel says a little sleepily.

"Yeah, because it gives me time to do this…" Santana says with a grin.

The next moment Rachel is flat on her back on the bed after being flipped over by Santana. Moments later Santana has her head buried between Rachel's thighs finally able to find out what the diva taste like. Thirty minutes and three Berry shattering orgasms later, Santana is helping a slightly unsteady on her feet diva into the shower where they end up not doing much showering.

* * *

"Okay, we're here." Santana says as she parks in the drive of a strange house a few blocks over from Rachel's.

"Um Santana, I live a couple of blocks that way." Rachel says pointing in the appropriate direction, "Aren't the homeowners going to be annoyed we're parked in their drive?"

"I have something to show you Rach, that's all." Santana says when she gets a dubious look from Rachel she adds, "Trust me."

Rachel rolls her eyes, "'Trust me' is what serial killers say just before they plunge a knife into your chest Santana."

"No sharp objects, I swear." Santana says with a grin while holding her hands up. She gets out of the car and opens the door for Rachel, offering the girl her hand, "Come on."

Rachel takes the Latina's hand and allows herself to be guided over to the front door of the house. It's quite a bit larger than her own she realizes now that she's out of the car, but it's been well maintained. She tries to remember if she's ever seen anyone coming and going from here but draws a blank and is therefore rather surprised when Santana produces a bunch of keys and unlocks the door.

"Who lives here?" she asks.

"No one right now." Santana answers. The Latina turns to Rachel and has produced a silk scarf from somewhere, "I want this to be a surprise so can I blindfold you?"

Rachel looks a little skeptical, her hand automatically going to her stomach. "You're not going to have a bunch of people jump out at me are you? Because I don't think that would be good for the baby."

"No Rach, nothing like that." Santana promises.

Rachel nods after a moment's thought and allows Santana to cover her eyes. The Latina guides her through the front door and up a flight of stairs and it strikes that diva that she feels totally secure in Santana's arms as she's lead blindfold through this strange house. They enter a room, Rachel hears the door close behind her, and Santana positions the diva with her back to the door and stands just behind her.

"Ready?" Santana asks and Rachel can hear the nervousness in the other girl's voice.

"Okay" she says and is surprised to find her voice doesn't sound nervous.

Santana unties and removes the blindfold then wraps her arms around the diva's waist from behind and rests her chin on her shoulder, waiting for a reaction.

Rachel blinks a few times in the sudden brightness and when she's able to focus she looks around. She's obviously in a nursery, though it doesn't look like it has ever been used. The color scheme was obviously chosen to be gender neural, a mixture of earth tones with hints of primary colors which results in a relaxing yet sophisticated effect.

There's a crib against one wall and a bassinet against another, a large chest of drawers has a changing mat on top and shelves of supplies above. There's a bookcase full of children's books and a toy box under the window that Rachel is sure will be full of toys. There are big pillows on the floor that are obviously meant for sitting or lying on, some walls have shelves full of soft toys, others have colorful paintings or empty photo frames and colorful mobiles dangle from the ceiling. Next to the bookcase is a large wooden rocking chair with thick comfortable looking cushions.

Everything is spotless, everything looks brand new and expensive and perfect. It is everything Rachel ever imagined for her child. Rachel looks around the room with wide eyes then turns to bury her face against Santana's chest, her heart breaking since she knows she'll never be able to offer her child something like this.

"Why did you bring me here Santana? Why did you show me this?" The pain in Rachel's voice is evident to Santana and it makes her heart break too, "Why would you show me everything I want to be able to give my child but can't?"

"Rach, look at me." Santana coaxes Rachel's head up with a finger under her chin before she wipes away the other girl's tears, "This is for you and our child Rachel. I did this for you, for both of you. I want you to live here with me."


	14. Chapter 14

"What?"

It had taken a whole ten seconds before Rachel had said anything, a whole ten seconds where every bad reaction Rachel might have had paraded through Santana's head, each scenario worse than the one before it, and Rachel's one word response hadn't helped.

"I want you to live here with me" Santana repeats trying to control her nerves, "If you want to I mean." She adds quickly, "It's your choice obviously, but I'd like to be closer to you, save all that driving around when you're having a craving, not that it's a problem, I like helping you and… And I'm going to shut up now." Santana was kicking herself for ending up rambling like a fool.

"That might be wise." Rachel says with a raised eyebrow.

The diva turns to survey the room again this time seeing a room that could be hers instead of one belonging to a stranger. She can see herself sitting in the rocking chair feeding their child, sitting on the big pillows with Santana encouraging their boy or girl to first crawl then take their first steps back and forth between them. The empty photo frames fill with pictures of the pair of them, maybe even one where her belly was all big and round from the child within. All within her grasp…

"How could we even afford this?" the diva asks.

"How about we finish the tour and then we can talk about the details?"

Rachel nods and Santana opens the door and steps out into the hall, quickly followed by Rachel. They hallway has a surprising number of doors leading off it leaving Rachel to wonder if the house was even larger than it looked. Santana had crossed to one of the doors and opened it, allowing Rachel to look inside.

"This is the main bathroom, though the two largest bedrooms have en-suites." She says.

Another door reveals an office with two expensive looking desks and chairs pushed up against opposite walls. Santana suggest the room could be converted back to a bedroom if necessary. There are a couple of large closets and an access to the loft which hasn't been converted into a room rather surprisingly. Another door opens to a guest bedroom, another to a bedroom Santana describes as hers and Rachel isn't sure why that makes her feel a little sad.

"And this would be your room, since its right next to the nursery."

It's a large bedroom, larger than the one Rachel has right now, and indeed there is an en-suite. There's also a large walking closet and all the usual furniture you'd expect in a bedroom including a bed that, while not quite as large as the one they had shared at the hotel, was larger than her current bed.

"You can bring your own furniture if you want." Santana offers, "And we can decorate too if you'd like to. My parents had this place redecorated with the intent to let it out but they never quite got round to it, so it looks a little like a hotel I guess."

Rachel only nods, she actually kind of likes the decoration but it is a little stark. She thinks that maybe once someone is actually using the room it'll look pretty nice. She wonders for a moment if Santana would share with her if she accepted the offer rather than have her own bedroom but then pushes that thought to the back of her mind, leaving that as one of the details to address when she makes her mind up.

Santana leads them downstairs and shows Rachel the living room, dining room, laundry room, kitchen and sun room. All are very spacious and, well, clean. But there is no real life in the house at the moment, there could be, there are photo frames everywhere, empty shelves for knickknacks, books and trophies, but right now it's too empty, too sterile to feel like a home.

There's a pool in the large back garden and a hot tub and barbecue on the back porch. They head downstairs to the basement and Rachel realizes there is some sort of construction going on. The room has been set up as some sort of recreation area, there are various game tables all crammed over to one side of the room plus a large TV, love seats and sofa scattered about. But there is the framework of a new wall splitting the room into two.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea to soundproof your bedroom so I'm having half of the basement soundproofed for you to practice in, or put on performances or maybe we could put a mini recording studio in it." Santana offers.

Rachel is a little overwhelmed by all this. Santana has obviously put a lot of thought and, worryingly, money into this idea and as much as she'd like to say yes, she's just not sure she's ready for something as serious as moving in with her just-girlfriend. She does not miss the irony that she's worried about moving with the girl when she's already having a baby with her.

Shortly they find themselves collapsed into one of the overstuffed sofas in the living room sipping water from bottles that Santana has retrieved from the fridge, thankfully the house keeper had stocked up as the Latina had asked. They sit there for a while before Santana finally breaks the silence.

"So, what do you think?" she asks.

"I don't know where to start." Rachel says honestly, "Where did this house come from? How do you expect us to be able to afford to live here? You've already spent so much on the nursery and basement… I haven't even decided if I'm keeping the baby yet so it's all a little overwhelming."

Santana nods, "Okay first I'm not going to force you to move in, I'm not even going to ask you to make a decision right now if you're not ready to. I want you to be comfortable here if you do decide to move in and me pushing for that isn't going to help. Just remember that it's here if you want it." Santana waits until Rachel nods then continues, "As for where the house came from, it was my Aunts. Or at least it was one of my Aunts houses. She didn't have any children of her own so when she died a few years ago she left me everything including this place."

"So it's yours anyway? I thought you said it was going to be rented out?" Rachel asks.

"Until recently everything my Aunt left me was locked up in a trust fund until I graduated collage. My Papi was the Trustee so was responsible for managing the fund including doing things like letting out properties."

"Until recently?" Rachel asks.

"There were some conditions that would release the trust to me, like graduating for example. But there was also the option for the Trustee to release the trust early if there was sufficient reason."

"Like you getting someone pregnant."

"Like having a child and girlfriend to support." Santana agrees.

"And you're proposing to use your trust fund to pay for us living in this house? Shouldn't you be using that to pay for college or something?"

"There's plenty of money to do both Rach and so much more. The fund was released so I could provide for you and the baby and I intend to do exactly that whether you decide to live in this house or not." Santana sighs, "And on that note I have something else for you."

Santana reaches into her purse and pulls out a card and passes it to Rachel who looks at it curiously.

"A debit card?" the diva asks and receives a nod from Santana, "In the name of Rachel Barbra Berry-Lopez?" she says a little incredulously, her head snapping up to look accusingly at Santana.

Santana at least had the decency to look embarrassed, "Um, you can blame the bank manager for that bit, it was the only way I could get you a card attached to my account."

"I'm not taking your money Santana." Rachel tries to hand the card back, but Santana refuses to take it. When the diva puts the card down on the coffee table, Santana retrieves it and thrusts it into Rachel's hand once more.

"I'm not taking no for an answer Rach, I will provide for my child, you promised me I could be involved and money part of that." She retrieves the card that Rachel has almost thrown back at her and holds it out again, "For god's sake Rachel, take the damn card."

"No! I don't need your money Santana." Rachel jumps up and heads for the door, but Santana reaches out and grabs her hand stopping her progress.

"Let me do this Rachel, I want to help you and your fathers out. How many times do I have to tell you I want to provide for my child?! And that includes looking after you too." When Rachel stubbornly continues not to meet Santana's eyes the Latina continues, "How much of your medical bills will your insurance cover Rachel?"

Rachel literally feels herself deflate, "It won't cover anything" she admits, "My Dad's didn't think that option would be necessary." She raises her head to look Santana in the eye, "But we'll be okay, we'll find the money."

"You shouldn't have to find the money Rach, you don't have to. There's the money right there, no worrying about how to make ends meet, no counting pennies to pay bills." Santana said holding out the card again, "Let me help you baby, I don't want to see you worrying and struggling when the answer is right here."

"That's your money." Rachel says stubbornly.

"It was my Aunt's money and as far as I'm concerned it's our money. I'm responsible for this pregnancy as much as you. Let me help you. Please…"

Rachel looks at Santana for a long moment and wonders if she's been taking pouting lessons from Brittany because right then she can't find it in her heart to argue with the Latina and instead nods a small nod. Santana sighs with relief and passes her the card along with the envelope that contains the PIN code, both of which Rachel puts into her purse.

"And it's not just for medical bills Rach. If you need supplements or vitamins, new clothes, a tank of gas, anything you need to buy, I expect you to use that card for it. Understand?"

"I'll use it for anything related to the baby…"

"Use it for anything." Santana interrupts, "I mean it, anything. Okay?"

Rachel nods though not really intending to use the card for anything more than the absolutely necessary, then looks a little pensive, "How will I know if I'm spending too much?"

Santana grins as she drops back onto the sofa, pulling Rachel into her lap, "Trust me, you won't be able to."

Rachel buries her head into the crook of Santana's neck, wrapping her arms around the other girl, "Thank you" she says in a small voice.

"No" Santana says, "Thank you."

After a while Rachel sits up, "I should head home." She says as she stands.

"I'll drive you" Santana immediately offers.

"It's okay Santana, it's just a couple of blocks and I could do with the fresh air."

"You'll let me know what you decide?" Santana asks, "About moving in I mean."

"I will" Rachel confirms, "Will you be staying here from now on?"

Santana seems to consider this for a moment, her eyes darting around the large room, "No, I don't think so. Not unless you decide to move in."

* * *

Rachel wasn't entirely sure why she had decided to walk rather than take Santana's offer of a ride, part of it may be the fact she was aware that in a few months she probably won't be able to walk long distances, comfortably at least. But she had just needed to get away for a while, everything that Santana had done for her and the baby was just too overwhelming and even the large living room they had been sitting in had started to feel claustrophobic.

She had spent literally no time considering the adoption issue, in fact when she actually thought about it she realizes that she had been deliberately avoiding the topic. And yet here was Santana, so confident of what she wanted that she was willing to spend money on modifications to a house she was willing to walk away from if Rachel decides not to keep the baby.

And the nursery, it was so perfect, everything she had ever wished she could give her child. They couldn't have a nursery like that at home, there just wasn't room unless her fathers gave up their office and even if they did that, which they had offered to do, where would all their stuff go? No, Rachel would have to make do with her own room which, while not exactly small, would be crowded by the addition of a crib and somewhere to change the child, never mind all the rest of the furniture, toys and books that Santana had already bought.

It didn't even occur to Rachel at this point that she was already thinking as if she'd decided to keep the child.

So on one hand she'd love to have the space and the nursery that Santana's house offered but there was something that was holding her back, she wasn't sure what but when Santana had asked her to move in she just couldn't say yes no matter how attractive the offer had been. She knew Santana would never pressure her into moving in and the Latina had made sure she understood that the offer still stood and at least she hadn't said no, but every time she thought about it all Rachel felt was confused.

And then there was the issue of money. She'd taken the debit card because she didn't want to argue with Santana, that hurt just too much and she was already worried she'd hurt the other girl by not agreeing to move in, but she just wasn't comfortable with taking the other girl's money. There must be so much more she could do with it, her education for example, and while Rachel appreciated that Santana wanted to provide for her child, she was worried that the Latina was risking her future by spending so much of her trust fund.

Rachel glances up and finds that she's walked all the way home and can't even remember doing it. Since it is still early afternoon her Dads will still be at work so it is only her own car that is sitting in the drive and the empty building just doesn't appeal to her right now, she has so much spinning around in her head that she wouldn't even be able to concentrate on singing. So she climbs into her car and drives off in a random direction with no particular destination in mind.

She finds herself at the mall and ends up wandering around window shopping for all the outfits she probably wouldn't be able to wear in a few months. She doesn't intend to end up in front of the ATM machines but that is exactly where she found herself and after a moment's hesitation she slips the black debit card into one of the slots. She finds the envelope with the PIN number and types it in then asks for a balance. She blinks at surprise at the screen then presses the card return and steps to the next machine, that one must be faulty.

She repeats the process on the second ATM and is again surprised by the result. When a third and then fourth machine returns the same answer she wonders if there is something wrong with the network they were connected to. There is a branch of the bank at the other end of the mall so Rachel turns to walk in that direction. The ATM's had been quiet but the bank branch had a queue almost all the way out of the door but Rachel wasn't in a hurry so joins the end of the queue and waits patiently.

When she finally reaches the front of the queue she swipes the card through the counter mounted card read and asks the teller for a balance. She's rather surprised when the teller asks her to take a seat and tells her someone would be out to help her in a moment, had Santana forgotten to tell her she wasn't supposed to use the card in the bank branch? Was she going to get into trouble because of the fake name on the card? She sits wondering what was going on until she sees the branch manage, an old friend of her parents, walking towards her.

"Good afternoon Miss Berry, would you come with me please?"

He leads her to one of the private customer rooms they have in the branch and asks her to sit while he takes the chair behind the desk.

"So, what can I do for you today Miss Berry?" he asks.

"Um, I just wanted to check the balance on this account" Rachel offers holding out the card, "But the ATM's didn't seem to be making any sense."

"No problem, we can do that for you. If you'll just run your card through the reader there and enter your PIN."

Rachel follows instructions and, after hitting some keys on the computer keyboard, the manager turns the display around so Rachel can see it, "Here we are."

The diva can only sit and stare at the screen in shock, the amount shown on the screen matches that shown by the ATM's and there's no way that can be correct.

"Is that right?" she asks incredulously.

"Oh yes" The bank manager assures her, "We take very good care of Miss Lopez's money." He watches Rachel for a moment, still sitting open mouth across the desk from him, with a knowing smile, "She didn't tell you how much she had, did she?"

Rachel shakes her head slowly, "Is… Is that all of it?"

"No" the Manager answers, "She has a couple of savings account and I wouldn't be surprised if she has accounts elsewhere, it would be the sensible thing to do. There are also stocks, shares and bonds and holdings in silver, gold and platinum."

Rachel really can't believe what she's hearing, just how much money does Santana have? When the Latina told her about a trust fund she'd thought they were talking a few thousand dollars, maybe as much as ten or twenty thousand at most, but this… I was just unbelievable and worse, she had a bank card to access some of it. Quite a lot of it.

"So… how much…?" she asks a little weakly.

"It's difficult to say at this particular point in time, the value of stocks, shares and precious metals can and do fluctuate quite a bit." The manager pulls out a slip of paper and writes a figure on it before handing it over to Rachel, "But that's approximately the value of Miss Lopez holdings as we know them."

Rachel looks at the slip of paper in her hand and balks. "Seriously?" she asks looking up at the bank manager who just nods. "Could I have a glass of water please?" she asks.

The manager nods, "I'll be right back." He says before leaving the room.

He returns a few minutes later with a glass of water that Rachel accepts thankfully. She had been sitting there staring at the slip of paper for the entire time he had been gone and she still couldn't believe what she saw.

"Should you have told me about this?" she asks suddenly.

"Miss Lopez was very specific with her instructions. We were to answer any questions you had to the best of our ability, no secrets and we were to treat you as we'd treat her."

Rachel nods, "Thank you. I should go."

"It was very good to see you Miss Berry. The next time you have business with us please just give your name to the person at reception and someone will come and help you. It will probably not be myself, but we have a number of associates to assist important clients."

Rachel just nods again and thanks the manager for his help before heading towards her car, still trying to comprehend exactly what she had just been told. About half way home her car warned her that she needed gas so she pulls in to a gas station and, after a moment's consideration, swipes the black debit card through the card reader on the pump.

* * *

After she'd filled the car she'd found herself driving over to Puck's house. He had still been at school so she'd ended up waiting in her car until he got back. He had been a little surprised to see her, but had invited her in and up to his bedroom without question where he sprawled on the bed and Rachel perched on the edge of the chair next to his desk staring out of the window. When it becomes obvious that the diva wasn't about to start this conversation, whatever she wanted to talk about, he broke the silence.

"So how was the date?"

"You knew?" Rachel asks, her head whipping round to look at him.

Puck shakes his head, "When I noticed both you and Santana were missing today I cornered Quinn. She didn't want to tell me at first but you know I have a way with the ladies."

Rachel rolls her eyes at Puck's statement. "It was… wonderful." She answers after searching for the most appropriate word for a moment. She told him all about the hotel, the limo, the meal and the show but skipped over the details of their intimacy and the bank card. Neither of those were any of his business. "And then she asked me to be her girlfriend." She finishes.

"And?" he asks after a moment silence.

"I said yes."

"Well that's good isn't it?" Puck asks.

He wasn't entirely sure how things went in girl-girl relationships, but generally becoming boyfriend and girlfriend was a cause for happiness if not celebration and right now Rachel looked more confused than happy.

"Are you worried about what happens at school? Because I don't think that's going to be a problem, pretty much everyone is used to seeing you two together and I'm pretty sure Santana can handle anyone that has a problem with it."

Rachel shakes her head, "We haven't talked about that since she asked, but I think we'll continue to keep things as they are for the moment."

Puck nods, "So what's the problem?"

"She asked me to move in with her to a house her Aunt left her a few years ago. It is just a few blocks from home and she's already put together an amazing nursery. And she's even putting a mini recording studio in the basement." She stands and starts pacing back and forth, running her hands through her hair and gesturing randomly, "It's perfect. It's everything I want for myself and my child. If I was 25 like I planned I'd jump at it a shot."

"But?"

Rachel throws herself down onto the bed next to Puck, "But… Why move in if I'm just going to put the baby up for adoption?" The last word catches in Rachel's throat as it seemed to do every time she said it since she found out she was pregnant and even Puck notices. "Move in then move out in a few months when we split up? No" she shakes her head, "I can't do that, I can only move in if I'm keeping it and I haven't decided what I'm doing in that regard."

"If she's your girlfriend, why can't you stay together if you decide to put the baby up for adoption?" Puck asks genuinely confused.

Rachel cringes internally, she hadn't told Puck this before and she's not sure how he'll react, "Don't freak out okay?" she asks but sighs when he just looks at her expectantly without making any promise. "If I decide to put the baby up for adoption Santana has said she's going to file for custody and then she'll move away so that I don't have to see her and the baby every day."

Puck is quiet for a long time, "She can do that?" When Rachel nods he adds, "And you're okay with that?"

"I can't deny her a chance with her child Puck. And while losing her would hurt, I'm pretty sure it would be entirely eclipsed by the pain of giving away my child. And at least this way I know he or she would be with someone that loves them and will look after them."

"So what you're getting at is that before you decide to get any more involved with Santana, you need to decide if you're going to keep the baby or not. And that answer will also give you the answer about Santana. Right?" Rachel nods and Puck continues, "So let's see your pro and con lists, your decision matrices, your charts, graphs and power point slides. Then we can work through them together and see if we can get anywhere."

Rachel shakes her head, "I haven't made any of those."

"Why not?"

"Because there is still plenty of time before I have to make that decision!" Rachel snaps.

Puck watches her closely for a full minute wondering if she should actually say it. Buck fuck it, if she needs help to actually open her eyes and see the truth, he wasn't going to shy away from giving it.

"Or maybe because you've already made it? Subconsciously at least?" he asks, "Look Rach, whenever you have a decision to make you've got charts and graphs and lists all over the place and it has never mattered in the past how long you have to make the decision. As soon as you know you have to make it, you're thinking and planning and researching. Have you done any research into adoption or motherhood?" Rachel shakes her head, "So I think you've already made your decision and you're just not ready to admit it yet."

"Okay smartass, what did I decide?" Rachel asks tiredly deciding to humor him.

"I think you're going to keep it." Puck says and continues quickly before Rachel can interrupt, "Look you can barely say the word adoption and haven't been since you found out about the baby" he says ticking items off on his fingers, "and when you do you look like someone has kicked your puppy. I bet you can't even think about adoption without almost wanting to burst into tears. You've just admitted it would be beyond painful to give him or her up and you've just agreed to enter into a relationship with someone you know you will lose if you decide to give the baby up. And now that you have that relationship and you know that Santana is as dedicated to caring about the baby as she is, you know you don't have to worry about bringing the baby up alone and struggling"

Rachel stares up at the ceiling of the bedroom for a long time considering Puck's words and, rather disturbingly, is not able to find anything to disagree on. She didn't know if things were going to work between her and Santana but she's pretty sure that the Latina would still provide for and love their child and seriously, when did Puck get so insightful?

"When did you get so smart Puck?"

Puck grins, "Right about the time you gave me that thought-a-day calendar Rach."

She pushes herself up from the bed, "I should go. Thanks for listening Puck. And for the advice."

"Any time Rach."

* * *

She found her Daddy in the kitchen working on dinner when she finally gets home and has to describe the whole date with him too, again leaving out the private moments in the theater box and the bedroom but including Santana asking the diva to be her girlfriend. Her Daddy seems pleased it went so well.

She watches him for a while before she finally asks, "Daddy, what would you think if I decided to keep the baby?"

"I wouldn't be surprised honey." He stops what he's doing and turns to give his daughter a hug, "You know we'll support you whatever you choose, right honey?"

Rachel nods, makes her excuses and heads upstairs. She spends more time staring at her own ceiling this time, complete with little glow in the dark star stickers, and still can't find anything wrong with Puck's reasoning, which left her with one question. She pulls out her phone and, after some time deciding on the wording, sends a text.

To Santana: Is there any particular reason you want your own room at the new house?

The response comes surprisingly quickly.

From Santana: I just didn't want to assume anything.


	15. Chapter 15

The man behind the elaborate desk stood and held out his hand as Santana entered his office. It was only an hour or so since Rachel had left the Lima house to walk home and Santana would never admit that she followed the diva home to make sure she got there okay, but she decided not to follow when Rachel stared at her Prius for a long moment before climbing in and driving off. There was making sure Rachel was okay and there was being downright creepy.

She was happy how perfectly the date had gone, the look on Rachel's face when she had invited the diva to sing and then after as she's sung her own song was enough to make the expense and effort all worthwhile. And then the sex… She had been surprised that Rachel had allowed her to touch her like she had, she had thought that the diva would eventually slap her hands away and insist on watching the show, but for her to demand that the Latina take her had been one of the most erotic things Santana had ever heard.

The fact that she had asked Rachel to be her girlfriend, and that the diva had agreed, was enough to plaster a near constant grin on her lips ever since. That hadn't been part of the plan but when they were lying in bed together and just talking it had seemed so right that she couldn't resist and she was glad she hadn't. The only down side was that Rachel hadn't immediately agreed to move in with her, the other girls tearful reaction when Santana had shown her the nursery had surprised the Latina, she had never intended to hurt the girls feelings like that and she wonders if maybe she could have handled it better.

But honestly she knew it had been a very slim chance that Rachel would agree straight away no matter how much she hoped for that, so she wasn't too worried right now. Not that she'd hold it against the diva if she decided not to move in, it was her choice and the Latina wasn't about to force her into doing something that she didn't want to do. So she would give the girl the time she needed with maybe a few subtle hints here and there and hopefully she'll come round. Santana is just happy right now that the diva hadn't immediately said no.

Instead Santana had made a call and had been told to come right over as she expected she would. This was her Papi's lawyer, a man she'd known as an uncle for as long as she could remember, a man who'd helped her Aunt set up her trust fund when they had found out she was dying, he was the man her Papi trusted for any legal work he couldn't handle himself and now it was the man Santana trusted to look after her interests.

"Miss Lopez! It has been far too long, how have you been?" he asks jovially and Santana can't help but grin at him. He was the kind of man that spoilt children badly and more than once Santana's Papi had to tell him to stop. The Latina had many fond memories of this man.

"Miss Lopez? Seriously?!" she asks as she crosses the room and bats his hand out of the way to give him her usual hug, "Since when did I stop being 'Little Santana' to you Uncle Leon? Or maybe it should be Mr Bolden?"

"Mmmm" he says gesturing to the chair across the desk from his own as they break apart, "You're a client now Santana, one has to show some reserve unless instructed otherwise."

"Consider yourself instructed otherwise" Santana says with a smile as they both take their seats.

"So what do you need Santana?"

"I need to make a will." Santana says evenly.

Leon's eyebrows travel a significant proportion of the way to his receding hairline, "You've needed a will since the trust fund was set up for you Santana. Not that I'm complaining, but why the sudden need that you can't even wait for a normal appointment?"

Santana shrugs, "I have, or I guess I will have, a child to provide for soon."

"You're pregnant?!" Leon exclaims in a mix of surprise, delight and confusion, "But I thought… Well never mind. Does your Papi know?" he answers his own question almost immediately, "Of course he does, that's why he released your trust early. Congratulations Santana."

Santana cringes internally at the grinning man sitting opposite her. While he was like an uncle to her, he wasn't one of the inner circle of family, friends and medical experts that knew about her condition and right now she honestly doesn't want to explain things to him.

"No Uncle Leon, I'm not pregnant." She says and watches his face change from happiness to confused, "But my girlfriend is and if anything happens to me, I want to make sure they are taken care of."

Leon looks at Santana for a long moment and the Latina recognises the calculating look on her face and she knows she's probably not going to like what he has to say.

"Santana, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this child can't be yours so you can't be under any obligation to the child. Do you know who the father is? Because it's really him that should be providing for them."

Santana was right, she didn't like that one little bit. She sits forward in her chair and gives her best Head Bitch stare, "Look Leon, as far as you are concerned that child is my own flesh and blood and you are to treat him or her as such." She says in a tone that brook no argument, "You will not make any inquiries as to the identity of the father, and yes they do know about the baby, and you will not say anything about it to my girlfriend should you ever be introduced to her. Comprende?"

Leon nods but doesn't seem to be done, "I should make sure this is okay with your father…"

"My father released my trust to me to do with as I will Leon and it's not like I'm giving it to her right now. I'm just making some just-in-case arrangements."

"You're still under eighteen Santana, your parents…"

"Would agree" Santana says, "When have you ever known them not to give me what I want?"

Which wasn't exactly true, the whole car thing was a point in case, but Leon didn't know about that or about any of the numerous times her parents had said no to her. He didn't call her bluff.

"Fine. Who's the beneficiary and what are the terms?"

"Rachel Berry" Santana says, "If anything happens to me, she gets it all. If anything should happen to both of us, a trust will be set up for the child using the same terms as my trust used. You and my Papi can manage the trust until it's released."

"I know the Berry's." Leon says thoughtfully, "Their daughters pregnant?"

"Yes" Santana confirms, "And before you ask, her fathers' know."

Leon nods. "And if there are multiple children?" He asks. In response to Santana's surprised expression he adds, "I'm just trying to make it as future proof as possible."

Santana nods, "Then everything is split evenly between them and put it into trusts."

Leon makes notes on a legal pad for a while then looks up to Santana and nods, "Okay. I'll have this drafted and sent out to you shortly. Read over it and let me know if there are any changes you want, otherwise come in and we'll get it sign and witnessed."

"Thank you."

Santana stands and, even though she's still a little annoyed at him, gives him another hug before she turns and walks out of the office.

* * *

Wednesday morning was a source of trepidation for Rachel. So much had changed in the last few days and she wasn't entirely sure how Santana would react to her. They had gone on an amazing date, had just as amazing sex, agreed to be girlfriend and then she had frozen when Santana had asked her to move in with her and been unable to give the other girl an answer even when she had gotten over her initial surprise.

Sure Santana had assured Rachel that she wasn't going to push the diva into giving her an answer, but Rachel was still worried that the Latina would respond differently to her at school today; heck she wasn't even sure how she would respond to Santana after everything that had changed. The thought of Santana not being there to walk her from one class to another, even though her ankle was now fine and she didn't need the help, hurt more than Rachel cared to think about.

And Santana didn't know about the discussion Rachel had had with her fathers the previous night after spending a few hours lying on her bed staring at the ceiling in deep thought. They had interrogated her about the date over dinner of course and she had happily told them most of the details, skipping over the sex, the debit card and the request for Rachel to live with Santana.

They had seemed quite pleased that Santana had asked Rachel to be her girlfriend, though the diva didn't tell them exactly where they were when she asked, and even happier when Rachel had said she had agreed. But Rachel supposes that after finding out your daughter is pregnant by another girl who happens to have a penis, finding out they are didn't isn't as big of an issue.

So when she asked to talk to them again later in the evening they had been a little confused, thinking that the discussion over dinner had brought them up to date. The conversation had started civilly enough and they had been as supportive as they had promised when she told them of her first decision, Rachel hadn't expected anything else.

But things deteriorated significantly from that point on when other topics were discussed. Though honestly 'discussed' was probably not the right word. Her Daddy had been understanding though not exactly happy about the situation whereas her Dad had been downright argumentative. The conversation had deteriorated until Rachel had had enough and executed one of her diva storm outs, ignoring the calls from her fathers to come back, before slamming her bedroom door and throwing herself down onto her bed.

Her fathers had come to her door a little later on and even though Rachel had ignored their knock, they had come into her bedroom and they had talked some more. Apparently Hiram and talked to LeRoy and eventually all three came to an understanding. Her fathers still weren't exactly happy about it, but at least they weren't all still arguing.

Rachel wonders how Santana will react.

Rachel found that things had changed when she arrived at school, though not immediately for the worse. When walking from her car to the main entrance she spotted Santana, Brittany and Quinn standing next to Quinn and Santana's cars looking at new 'Reserved' signs adorning the first three bays in the parking lot. Just as Rachel was trying to decide if she should join them or head to her locker, Santana's head shot up as if she could feel Rachel looking at her and their eyes met. Brittany looked to see who Santana was looking at and excitedly waved Rachel over. As she approached, Rachel could finally read the text on the reserved signs.

"So Coach Sue finally got spots reserved for her top Cheerios then?" she asks as she arrives at the small group.

"Yes" Quinn says, "The signs went up yesterday."

"And from now on you park there Rach." Santana says pointing to the third currently unused slot.

Rachel looks confused, "But I'm not in the Cheerios and I'm certainly not one of the top three."

"But Britt and Quinn always drive to school together, so you get to park there." Santana replies in a tone that brooks no argument. Rachel just nods.

They head into the school building as the bell for homeroom will ring shortly and they still have to visit their lockers and that is when the second change happens. She was used to seeing the three of them walking through the halls, Santana and Brittany walking just behind Quinn, but today Brittany walks ahead next to Quinn, their hands entwined between their bodies, and Santana fell into step beside her. The crowds still parted for the three Cheerios and Rachel found the experience rather odd, she was one of the ones that were usually getting out of the way, but instead she was whisked along the corridor as if it happened every day. Rachel decided she liked this.

They visit their lockers then head to homeroom and every step of the way Santana seems to find some way to be touching Rachel. Their fingers brush as they pass books from one to another, arms pressing together as they unnecessarily squeezed together to pass others in the hall, Santana's hand on the small of Rachel's back as the Latina lets her walk through a door first and chairs pulled together so close in homeroom that their thighs were pressed against each other.

Each touch sent tingles though Rachel skin and sent her mind spiraling back to all the touching they had done during their date. Add to that the fact that since they had done all that 'touching', Rachel's non-food cravings seem to have gone into overdrive. At times all she can think about is dragging Santana off somewhere private and doing more very non-PG touching.

Her GPA is so going to suffer because of this pregnancy.

When they finally reach lunch time Rachel just can't take it anymore. Hardly twenty four hours since they last had sex and the diva was sure she was going to combust at any moment, so when they were walking past the choir room about ten minutes before the next period is due to start, it didn't take much thought for her to drag the Latina into the closet next door and crush Santana against the door she'd just slammed shut a moment before. Lips crash together and hands are already finding their way under clothes.

"Oh god, I've wanted to touch you all day." Santana moans between kisses.

"You have been and it's been driving me nuts."

"We need to talk about this staying under the radar thing." Santana points out.

Rachel gasps as Santana's lips attack her throat, "Tonight, after my dance class."

"Your place or mine?" Santana asks before attacking the other side of Rachel's throat.

Rachel moans at the feeling of Santana's lips against her skin, her neck has always been very sensitive and the Latina sure knows how to take advantage of it. "Actually I was thinking our place." She manages to gasp out.

It obviously takes a moment for Santana to process this comment but as she does she freezes than pulls back to look at the diva before her, "You mean…?" she asks. Rachel nods and Santana breaks out in a grin, "Yeah."

"I have a condition though." Rachel says, a finger pressing against Santana's lips to stop them resuming their attack on the diva's neck.

"Okay" Santana says a little nervously, "What's that?"

Even though Rachel has thought about this moment a lot, she can still feel her face turning red as the moment of truth arrives. "I-I want us to share my room."

Santana looks at her for a moment, "Do I have to rearrange the furniture or…?" she asks wanting to be perfectly clear on what Rachel was say.

"No"

"Okay"

Santana's grin was just about ear to ear and just as she thought things couldn't get any better right at that moment, Rachel's hands, which had found their way under the Latina's skirt without her noticing, manages to push Santana's spankies and compression shorts down enough that they fall to the floor. Santana moans in pleasure then spins Rachel around so she's pressed against the door and reaches under the diva's short skirt to literally tear off her panties.

Rachel moans and the gasps as Santana pulls the diva's skirt up to her waist and then firmly plants her hands into Rachel's ass.

"As much as I'd like you to fuck me against this door" Rachel somehow manages as she gasps for breath, "There is a mattress right over there…"

One of Santana's hands descends to Rachel's thighs encouraging the diva until her legs are wrapped around Santana's waist and she lifts Rachel off of the door and spins around taking the few steps to the mattress before lowering her gently down onto her back.

"Are we really going to do this at school?" Santana asks

"We damn well better."

"Say it!"

"What?"

"Say it!"

"Fuck me Santana, please!"

Santana didn't need to check of Rachel was ready, she had felt just how soaked the diva's panties had been when she had torn them off of her body, so she reaches down, grabs her cock, lines it up with Rachel's opening and slides it hilt deep into her in one smooth movement.

"Fuck!" declares Rachel.

Santana can't help the grin that covers her face right now, she loves it when Rachel curses especially when she's the one to cause the diva to curse and she's only ever heard Rachel curse in situations like this. For the first time she is on top, she is in charge, she sets the pace but she's also very aware that the bell is going to ring soon so she doesn't have the time to take as much time as she wants to. She promises herself that she's going to correct that very soon.

She pumps her hips, building a rhythm as she pumps in and out of the diva, her lips finding Rachel's neck once more and a hand sliding under an argyle jumper to release a breast from its bra cup, fingers caressing and squeezing at the flesh. Rachel's legs lock around Santana's waist, pulling Santana closer as she thrusts into the diva and relaxing as she slides out. Her hands are tangled in Santana's hair and occasionally pulls a little too hard but that just turns the Latina on all the more.

For some reason it strikes Santana that she didn't lock the door behind them and it is exactly that moment, when Santana is buried deep between Rachel's legs, that the door opens, slams shut, a lock clicks and a body crashes against the door. Santana freezes immediately, hundreds of different scenarios shooting through her mind but all ending the same way, her secret getting out and while she was willing to let that happen if Rachel had asked for it, this was not the way she wanted it to happen.

"Don't you dare stop!" Rachel hisses in the Latina's ear.

"Rachel!" Santana exclaims. She's got more on her mind than orgasms right now.

But Rachel is already craning her neck to look over Santana's back to see who has invaded their privacy, "It's only Quinn and Brittany" she says eventually.

Santana relaxes, actually sighing in relief. "Tell me they're not watching…"

Rachel shakes her head, "They're too busy with each other… oh…" she says eyes widening.

"Oh?"

"Well, put it this way, there is now three pairs of spankies on the floor by the door." There's a pause as Rachel tips her head to one side as if contemplating something, "And I have to say, Quinn has a very nice ass."

"Rachel!"

"Either finish what you started or I'm going to admire the show. Your choice." Rachel says confidently.

Finishing wasn't going to be a problem, the noises the other two girls were making and the tightness of Rachel around her cock were already driving her mad and now the anxiety of being discovered had passed, Santana realized she had never been so turned on in her life. Her lips found Rachel's again, her hips started moving and Rachel started making those noises the Latina loved so much. And then Rachel's hands found Santana's ass, flipping her uniform skirt up out of the way, fingers digging in to the newly exposed round globes of flesh and a loud groan of pleasure escapes Santana's throat.

"Fuck… Rach…" she gasps, "I'm gonna come…!"

It is as if Rachel was waiting for the words, the lithe body under Santana arching up as a scream of pleasure tears from her throat, her legs locking round Santana's waist pushing the Latina's cock deep inside her just as her walls close to squeeze and pulse against it. The pressure around her waist and around her cock is enough to send Santana over the edge and she adds her own exclamation to Rachel's shout as she pumps her seed into her girlfriend.

When their convulsions finally cease Santana slowly rolls off of Rachel into the mattress, pulling the diva with her so they end up on their sides and face to face, Santana still buried inside Rachel and neither of them in any rush to separate.

"I suppose they are leaning against the only way out of here?" Rachel asks quietly.

"Yup" Santana says, "Plus our underwear is over there and while you could get away without them, I can't in this skirt."

So they lay there in each others arms, Santana finally slipping out of Rachel and both of them covering themselves as best they could and trying to ignore the grunts, groans, moans and squeals that emanate from the two girls pressed against the door. Finally Quinn and Brittany reach their climaxes, Rachel and Santana's faces flushing and eyes closing as they are subjected to the unavoidable noise of the other two girls' releases, then silence falls.

It's not until Santana's spankies and compression shorts land on her body that they look up, finding Quinn standing over them apparently unconcerned about the last few minutes or the fact she was basically on display from the waist down but holding Rachel's torn panties up by one ripped side and apparently examining them.

"Really Santana, you couldn't wait?"

Rachel snatches her panties out of Quinn's grip as the two blondes pull on their own underwear and collapse on the mattress next to Rachel and Santana. It's obvious that Rachel isn't going to be able to wear these again, she's just happy they weren't an expensive pair.

"No, she couldn't." Rachel confirms with a satisfied grin on her face even as she surveyed her ruined panties.

"Could you two turn around so I can put these on?" Santana asks indicating her compression shorts. They weren't something you could slip on under a skirt easily.

"Or you could just show us and stop worrying." Quinn suggests evenly.

When Santana shakes her head slightly Quinn sighs and both she and Brittany roll over on the mattress so they are facing away from Santana as she pulls her shorts and spankies on again, only rolling back when Santana indicates she's done.

"Is no one going to address the elephant in the room?" Rachel asks after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"Look Berry, the only way this will be awkward is if you let it. So accept it happened, get over it and move on." Quinn replies.

Rachel nods, though in acceptance not agreement, and it is at that moment that the end of lunch bell finally rings.

"I am so skipping class." Santana mumbles and the other three girls agree.

"Oh and Berry" Quinn says after a long period of mutual silence, "I heard what you said about my ass."

* * *

Santana had been sitting nervously on one of the sofas in the living room waiting for Rachel to get back from her dance class. The diva had indicated that she had an overnight bag in the trunk of her car with enough clothes in it to last to the weekend and she intended to move the rest of her possessions into their house at the weekend. When asked (very quietly) why she'd been going around without any panties since lunchtime when she had clothes in her car, the diva had just smiled and winked at Santana which made the Latina wonder where the nearest closet was.

So Santana had rushed home, her parent's home now, as soon as she could and had packed her own overnight bag before leaving for her new home with Rachel. And now she was waiting for the diva to come home and decide how they were going to behave at school from then on.

She hears a car outside on the drive and shoots up to see Rachel's car through the front window. She's out the front door and has the trunk of the car open as soon as Rachel releases it from inside the car and she can't help but smile as she pulls the bright pink suitcase on wheels out of the trunk. She walks over to Rachel, pulling her into a one arm hug and kissing her on the forehead before taking her hand and walking into the house.

They leave Rachel's case in the hallway as Santana pulls the diva into the living room and sits her down on a sofa. She reaches out for a set of keys that were sitting on the coffee table just in front of them and holds them out to Rachel.

"These are yours." She says.

Rachel ducks her head and blushes slightly, "Thank you."

"Welcome home Baby." Santana says with a big smile on her lips.

Rachel answers by tipping her head up and pressing her lips against Santana's.

"So do you want to get some dinner and then we can talk about school?" Santana offers.

"Actually there's something else I need to talk to you about first." Rachel says

"Okay."

Santana can't help but notice that Rachel seems rather nervous, so much so that she can barely look at the Latina.

"Rach, you know you can tell me anything." Santana says trying to reassure her girlfriend.

"I know" Rachel replies, "But this will just make things real…"

Santana just nods, pulling the diva onto her lap and slowly rubbing her back, "Take your time honey."

Rachel takes a deep breath as if stealing herself and then looks up at the other girl, "Santana, I want to keep the baby." She says then adds, "Are you okay with that?"

Santana can't help the huge smile that now adorns her lips, "Of course I am baby."

Santana can't help but be a little nervous though since Rachel hasn't yet indicated what her position will be in this little family. Yes she's dating the diva and yes the child is biologically hers, but will Rachel want to acknowledge that to the child and to everyone else? And then, as if she can read Santana's mind, Rachel rests her head against the Latina's chest, tucking it under her chin and then says something that makes all of Santana's worries disappear.

"You'll make a wonderful Mom."


	16. Chapter 16

In the end they never got around to talking about how they would behave at school, after the discussion they did have and then ordering something to eat, Rachel pointed out that she really needed a shower and, after a few hints, Santana realized she was supposed to join the diva. Afterwards they collapse into their bed together and celebrate the decisions that had been made some more.

Their bed. Not Rachel's bed, not Santana's bed, their bed. Just that thought was enough to plaster a huge smile over Santana's features.

They had moved the rest of their stuff in that weekend as planned, Rachel's elliptical machine going into the smaller spare bedroom at Santana's suggestion. Santana had originally claimed it was so that the baby wouldn't be disturbed in the morning if he or she was spending the night in their room, as it would for the first few months anyway, but when challenged she eventually admitted that she didn't want to get woken up by the machine either.

Honestly Rachel didn't mind as long as the machine was accessible, she knew the Latina wasn't really a morning person and living together meant you had to make allowances for the person you were living with. And given that they had a whole house it wasn't like they were pushed for space.

But what with moving in and celebrations and general busy lives they had never gotten around to talking about school which is why, a full week after they had moved in together, Santana and Rachel were still separately driving to school. Wednesdays also mean an early Cheerios practice for Santana, Quinn and Britt and so they are on the field when Rachel pulls her car into the third reserved spot in the student parking lot.

At first there had been a few complaints about her using the spot, some of the other Cheerios had pointed out that if Brittany wasn't going to use it, it should get passed down to the next in the hierarchy but Sue had heard the argument one too many times and decreed that only the intended recipients of the spots could say who parked there and if they said the diva could use the spot, that was good enough for her. After that no one was stupid enough to voice any other opinion anywhere that it might get back to the coach.

Rachel braced herself against the side of her car as another wave of dizziness hit her. She had felt the same thing a few times over the last few days but put it down to the pregnancy, after all her body was going through some serious changes and some ill effects were bound to occur, take morning sickness for example. She looks up towards the football field where the Cheerios are practicing and while she's too far away to make out who is who, there is a group of two blondes and a raven haired girl standing off to one side watching the others that had to be Quinn, Brittany and Santana.

As if she can feel Rachel's eyes upon her, the Latina turns and looks towards the school and Rachel suppresses the urge to raise her arm and wave. Instead she allows herself a smile as she watched the antics of the small figures on the field before turning to head into the school. When she is alone she doesn't have the corridor clearing effect of even one of The Unholy Trinity but at least these days with the inexplicable (to most) protectiveness of a certain Latina cheerleader she doesn't get pushed around like a piece of driftwood in the surf.

So Rachel makes it to her locker without any problems only to suffer another wave of dizziness just as she leans inside to get her books. Luckily since she had one hand still holding the door of her locker and the other inside, she was able to hold herself steady until the episode had passed and she had once again regained her normal steadiness and she considers that maybe she should ask Santana to take her to the doctor if this keeps up.

It takes her a moment to realise that Mercedes and Kurt have arrived at her locker and are talking animatedly about… something, she wasn't sure what. She had obviously missed the start of the conversation and what she was hearing just wasn't making much sense, but it didn't seem that much input was required from her apart from the occasional nod and noise of agreement.

She doesn't notice the jock, a new kid just transferred to the school, walking down the corridor towards her with a slushy in his hand. And even if she had, she's gotten so used to not receiving a face full of the contents of a big gulp cup that she barely notices them anymore. She doesn't notice him walk up behind Mercedes as just then another wave of dizziness hits her and she's too busy concentrating on remaining upright.

She doesn't see the purple slush flying at her face but the impact makes her gasp, her mouth hanging open at the sudden cold as her eyes blink rapidly against the sting of the slush and the last thing she sees before her eyes roll up into her head and she collapses is the surprised looks on Kurt and Mercedes faces.

* * *

Santana is watching the construction of the base of the pyramid when she first hears the siren. Normally she'd be prancing around with the rest of the girls trying to distract observers from this normally unimpressive part of the process, but today she's acting as a second pair of eyes for Quinn so they can tell the Cheerios exactly where they screwed up, because they will screw up. That much is inevitable.

And sirens weren't an unusual thing to hear, the school pretty much sat on the quickest route from one side of the town to the other so it was pretty common to hear an ambulance, fire appliance or police car go zipping past with its lights going. But instead of the rising then fading of a normal siren as it passed, this siren kept getting louder and louder until it was accompanied by blue strobes flashing across the field before both were suddenly cut off.

Santana turns with most of the other Cheerios to see an ambulance parked near the main entrance of the school and a feeling of dread settles into her stomach. There's no way she can see from here what is going on, in fact since they have only just arrived the EMT's probably haven't even made it into the building yet, but something tells Santana that Rachel is in trouble and her feet start moving of their own accord carrying her towards the main building even before she's made a conscious decision to go, quickly accelerating from a jog to a run to a full out sprint. Quinn and Britt's eyes meet from their positions waiting on either side of the pyramid and then they too are running towards the school, watched by the rest of the Cheerios and being shouted at through the bullhorn of a very annoyed Coach.

There's no one at the ambulance apart from gawking students when Santana arrives so she turns without stopping or slowing and heads towards the school, barrelling through the main doors and following the direction all the students are looking in, shoving some of the slower students out of her way and passing a technician hauling a gurney behind him until she found what she was looking for, until her worst fear was confirmed.

Rachel was lying on the floor near her locker covered in what looked like slushy, her skin tone was deathly pale and her mouth and nose covered by an oxygen mask that was connected to a bag the EMT kneeling beside her had obviously carried with him. For a long moment all Santana can do is stand there, hand over mouth and eyes fixed on the diva's face, fearing the worst as darkness and pain claws at her heart. And then the mask over Rachel's mouth mists, the diva's chest rising and falling with each breath and the Latina drops to her knees, one hand outstretched towards the fragile looking diva and she lets out the sob she didn't know she'd been holding in.

"Rachel…" she whispers.

"Please keep back." The EMT says as the technician arrives with the trolley.

"What the hell is going on?"

Quinn's commanding voice cuts through the noise of students whispering and snaps Santana back to the here and now. When she glances up she finds most of the Glee club around them, some holding back the other students while others look on in shock. It is Mercedes that finally explains.

"We were just talking. Rachel, Kurt and I. Then this guy comes out of nowhere and throws a slushy at her. Rachel looked shocked and just stood there with her mouth open for a moment then just sort of fell over. Kurt managed to catch her but when she wouldn't wake up we called the ambulance."

By now the EMT's had gotten Rachel onto the gurney and were wheeling her out towards the ambulance with Santana, the Glee club and a random bunch of students in tow. Santana could hear Quinn interrogating the others to find out what had happened but all Santana was worried about right now were Rachel and the baby being okay. She didn't care that half the Glee cub were whispering behind their hands about her reaction, she didn't care that Cheerios were throwing her confused looks as she trotted along next to the trolley, her eyes locked onto Rachel's face praying that the mask would keep misting up as the little diva took her next breath, and she wasn't even aware of Finn giving her one of his constipated glares that meant he was trying to figure something out.

The whole corridor clearing thing turns out to work for EMT's as well, though the normal near silence of the Unholy Trinity is replaced with shouts of the lead EMT for people to move, the squeaking and rattling of the gurney that carried its oh so very precious cargo, and the gossipy whispers of the gleeks and other students that followed behind. A couple of Cheerios are standing near the doors as they arrive and are quick witted enough to pull them open when the EMT shouts at them and so they continue without slowing out of the building and towards the waiting ambulance.

Santana was still operating on automatic, had been since she'd landed on her knees next to her still body on the cold school floor, and even now as they lifted the trolley she lay on into the ambulance all she could do was watch and try to breathe through the pain and dread in her chest. She just stood there by the doors as the medics hooked Rachel up to various machines mounted on the bulkhead above the bed and a moment later a steady beep beep beep of a heart monitor could clearly be heard.

"Does one of you want to come with her?" One of the EMT's asked as the other ran round to the cab of the vehicle.

Santana didn't even get a chance to react and before she could even open her mouth someone else had answered.

"I'm her boyfriend, I'll come." Finn said.

"No you're not, she broke up with you before Christmas" Kurt said and Santana had never been happier to hear from the boy, "I'll go, I'm her best friend."

But Santana was already climbing into the back of the ambulance, Finn's words having shocked herself back into action, "I'm going, I'm her girlfriend."

If the surprise that resulted from Santana's statement had not been so absolute, if the silence that accompanied it had not been so intense, the gleeks standing around the vehicle would have totally missed Santana's next sentence that escapes the closing door of the ambulance in response to the EMT's request for any more pertinent information about the patient.

"She's two months pregnant."

* * *

The ambulance was new, spotless, hardware bolted to the bulkheads and equipment all tidied away where it was supposed to be and yet every time the driver hit a pothole or bump the whole thing seemed to rattle like a tin toy causing Santana to cringe. And yet over the roar of the engine and the muted squeal of the siren, Santana is comforted by the steady beep beep beep of the heart monitor.

She wants to ask what's going on, if Rachel was okay, if they baby was okay, but the EMT still seems to be busy constantly moving around and checking things and the last thing Santana wants to do is distract him when he's looking after her girlfriend and her baby. So she holds her tongue and remains perched on the jump seat in the corner of the ambulance knuckles white as she holds on to the bar by the seat with all her strength and instead, for the first time in countless years, starts to pray.

The ambulance reaches the hospital fairly quickly but as far as Santana can tell Rachel hasn't yet woken up. She follows as the EMT's pull the gurney out of the back of the ambulance and push it without delay into the hospital but is stopped after a few turns by a nurse at a set of double doors.

"You can't go through there" the nurse says.

"Let me past!" the Latina snaps, "That's my girlfriend."

"Then the best thing you can do for her is let the doctor see her and go through into the waiting room and fill in these forms."

The nurse gestures to a nearby room of chairs with a television bolted to the wall in one corner. Santana reluctantly takes a seat and starts looking through the forms she's been given and quickly realizes that she can't answer anything but the basic information. The thought that only Rachel's parents would be able to answer these questions has her realizing she should probably have already called them. She steals herself for the difficult conversation that is about to follow and reaches for her mobile phone.

* * *

The arrival of Rachel's dads had been taxing for Santana and that was putting it politely. They didn't once blame her for what had happened even although she blamed herself, but they did want to know what had happened and right now Santana didn't even have answers for those simple questions. They left her alone after a while when they realized there wasn't anything else she could tell them and retreated to one corner of the waiting room, taking the forms Santana couldn't fill in, to jump to their feet anxiously every time a nurse or doctor came into the room.

The glee club showed up later on but at least they left Santana alone, instead taking over one side of the room, whispering amongst themselves and occasionally throwing glances towards the hunched form of the Latina. It was only when Britt and Quinn arrived, just a little after the others having spent some time hunting down a certain jock, that Santana gets some company that doesn't immediately make her feel like she's suffocating.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Quinn asks to which Santana just shakes her head.

"Did you find him?" Santana doesn't have to tell either of the blondes who she was talking about.

"Yes" Quinn confirms.

"And?"

"He's a transfer. He didn't know about the list, he didn't know who the target was. Rachel was just pointed out to him. He was set up."

"And you let him away with it?" Santana and Quinn always had each other's backs and the Latina couldn't believe that Quinn would let her down right now.

"Of course not." Quinn reassures Santana, "He won't make that mistake again. But I thought you'd be more interested in who pulled the trigger."

"Who?"

"Rick the Stick" Quinn says to very little surprise to Santana, "And don't worry, he's taken care off too. He won't be playing hockey for quite some time."

"Why did he do it?"

"I don't know."

The fall into a relative silence for a while with just the whispering of the Glee club and the sound of the television in the corner to disturb them.

"They know you know." Quinn volunteers.

"What?"

"The Glee club. They heard you tell the EMT that Rachel was pregnant."

"Did you tell them anything?"

"No" Quinn assures the Latina, "I didn't know if you'd want me to, or how much you'd want me to say."

Santana sighs before rising to her feet. She casts a glance towards the Berry men in the corner who are watching her before she turns towards the glee club. If she doesn't put a halt to the whispering god knows what rumors will actually end up being spread around but one thing she does know is that certain people would be poking their noses in where they weren't wanted.

"Okay you lot, I'm only going to say this once to listen up." She waits a moment until she has all of their attention before she continues, "Rachel and I are dating. We have been for a while and Rachel agreed to be my girlfriend on Valentine's Day."

Santana pauses and rolls her eyes at a muted "awww's" that this generates.

"And I know you heard but I'll say it again, she's two months pregnant and as far as you lot are concerned, that child is as much mine as it is hers. You are not to ask her who the father is, you are not to try and find out via any other means who the father is and I do not want to hear of anyone spreading rumors about it. What I will say the father is not any boy at school. Nor is it Jessie St Jackass" Santana adds as she hears Mercedes mention the name.

"She wasn't… like… attacked or anything?" Tina asks sounding a little scared.

"No, she wasn't." Santana assures her, "It was a mutual decision and Rachel has told me she doesn't regret anything. And yes, before you ask, the father does know about the child but I'm not going to go into any more detail than that. If Rachel want's to tell you, I'm sure she will in time. But as I said before, as far as you are all concerned that child is as much mine as Rachel's. Understood?"

Santana is answered by a collection of nodding heads and a knowing look from Puck.

"She's keeping the baby?" someone asks.

"We're keeping the baby" Santana corrected, "Anyone have a problem with that."

The nodding changed very quickly to shaking.

"One last thing" Santana says, "Apart from some doctors and my parents, the only people who know about this baby are in this room right now. I know we won't be able to keep things quiet for much longer but right now all Rachel wants is to get on with a fairly normal life, so if I hear anyone whispering about this at school that isn't here right now, I well ends every single one of you. Got it?"

Santana fixes each individual in the Glee club in turn with her best HBIC stare and each eventually nods in response. Santana nods and turns to sit just as a nurse enters the waiting room.

"Santana Lopez?"

"That's me" she says jumping to her feet again.

"Rachel's awake and asking for you." The nurse says giving Santana directions to the little diva's room.

"Is she okay?" Santana asks very aware that the Berry men were now standing next to her.

"She's awake and responsive. The doctors have sent away a number of samples for testing and are waiting for the results." The nurse says, "That is all I know I'm afraid."

* * *

Santana found Rachel's room pretty easily. She had asked Rachel's fathers if they wanted to go first but they had insisted that she go as Rachel had actually asked for her. She wasn't entirely sure if she should knock or not, if Rachel had happened to doze off again the Latina didn't necessarily want to wake her again, so she pushes the door open quietly and sticks her head into the room.

Rachel is lying on a bed to one side of the room, the mask that had been over her mouth and nose is gone but she's still attached to a machine that beeps with every beat of her heart. She appears to be asleep again though her arms are wrapped securely around her stomach but her eyes flicker open when Santana steps into the room allowing the door to click shut behind her and the diva smiles, holding one hand out to the Latina.

"Hi" she says quietly.

"Hi" Santana says as she hurries across the room and takes Rachel's outstretched hand. She kisses the diva on the forehead and runs her free hand through Rachel's hair, "You scared me so much." Santana says, not even caring that her voice almost breaks.

"I'm sorry." Rachel replies blinking back her own tears.

"It's okay" Santana says as she pulls up a chair without releasing Rachel's hand, "Just don't do it again, okay?"

Rachel smiles up at Santana but it quickly fades, "Have the doctors said anything to you? They won't tell me anything."

Santana shakes her head, "I haven't even spoken to one. A nurse said they sent away samples and are waiting for the results, but she didn't know anything else." After a pause she asks "How do you feel?"

Rachel seems to consider this for a moment, "Okay I guess, still a little dizzy now and then but no other aches or pains."

"They took me for a sonogram" Rachel says after a while, her voice wavering slightly as she spoke "but they wouldn't tell me anything."

The cold dread that Santana had been fighting off ever since she had seen the little diva lying on the cold school floor returned to fill her chest and she blinked back the tears she knew the diva didn't need to see and instead climbed onto the side of the bed and pulled Rachel into her arms.

"I'm sure everything's going to be okay Rach."

"Why won't anyone tell us anything San?"

Despite her own fears and worries Santana tries to be positive for Rachel, "They just want to make sure they have the right answers before they tell us anything Rach. We just have to believe everything will be okay."

Rachel's hand pulls Santana's towards the diva's stomach until both are resting there, neither of them daring to voice the concern that weighs so heavily on their hearts. So instead they hold hands over the place where their baby is growing and wait for the doctors to let them know the results of the tests.

"Your fathers are outside." Santana says looking for anything to break the silence, "And the Glee club."

"They know?"

"They know about our relationship and that you're pregnant, yes. I haven't told them anything else though. I didn't know how much you wanted to tell them." Santana says then admits "Or how much I was prepared to tell them right now."

The waiting was the worst thing, the steady beeping of the heart monitor both a blessing and a curse as it counted off the passing time. Rachel's fathers came into her room at one point but when Santana stood to give them some time together, the diva wouldn't let go of her hand so she ended up staying where she was until the diva got frustrated by her fathers and sent them off with a promise to call them when the doctors returned.

When the doctor did finally return they didn't have a chance to call Rachel's fathers back since he just appeared through the room door without any warning.

"Rachel Berry?" has asks.

"Yes" Rachel says

"Is she okay?" Santana demands, "Is the baby okay?"

"Rachel, it looks like you are low on some very important vitamins and minerals which caused the dizzy spells and blackout that you had. Have you been eating properly recently?" When both Rachel and Santana nod he looks down at the file in his hands, "Your notes indicate that you have been following a vegan diet for some years, have you been taking the supplements your doctor gave you?"

"Supplements?" Rachel looks confused, "My doctor never gave me any supplements. I've just been taking the ones I normally take."

The doctor looked surprised, "Well that would explain the low levels in your bloodstream. Does your doctor know about your diet?"

"Yes, she's looked after me since I was little. My fathers discussed my diet with her when I decided to become vegan."

"Hmmm" the doctor says, obviously not impressed and Santana decides that Rachel will be seeing her doctor from then on. "Well, we'll keep you here for a few days and put you on a drip to bring your levels back up to normal. Then you should see your doctor and make sure you get the supplements you'll require during the pregnancy. I'll give you a note to give to your doctor."

"And the baby?" Santana demands losing her patience that the doctor hadn't yet addressed the important question of her child's health, "Is the baby okay?"

"Ah yes, the baby." The doctor says looking down at his notes once again, "Well, I have some news on that front…"


	17. Chapter 17

Quinn stands watching the ambulance that Santana just climbed into pull away from the school and head down the drive, its lights and siren springing to life as it turns onto the main road and accelerates towards the hospital. There's nothing more she wants to do right now than climb into her car and follow the ambulance, to be there for her friend who she knew would end up sitting alone in some waiting room somewhere imagining the worst.

She had seen the look on Santana's face, the utter despair and dread that the Latina hadn't even tried to conceal when she had seen Rachel lying apparently helpless on the floor, and that pain had cut Quinn to the quick too. Brittany might be her girlfriend but Santana was Quinn's best friend and anyone that caused the Latina to hurt that badly was in for a very, very bad day.

And so before Quinn to follow the ambulance to the hospital she has a task to complete, one she knows that Britt and Santana would do for her should their positions be reversed and one she will take pleasure in doing. When she turns to look at Britt she can see her own steely resolve mirrored in the other blondes face, no words are needed when their eyes meet, a simple nod communicating everything that needed to be before they turn and head into the school building. The hunt was on.

In the end Quinn didn't know if she should be happy or disappointed at how easy it was to find him, apparently he didn't even know enough to have realized that he should be avoiding the head cheerleader at all costs and all it had taken was a couple of "polite" inquiries for Quinn and Britt to track him out. He even left the group of jocks he was standing with eagerly at Quinn's call, following her to a quiet corridor like a puppy, happy to be recognized by the head cheerleader after only a few days at the school.

That was a mistake.

Quinn might not be as large as this idiot, but she has training he doesn't and before he knows what is happening the blonde has him pinned face first to a bank of lockers that line the corridor wall with his arm so far up his back it's close to being dislocated.

"Tell me why you did it!" Demands Quinn

"Did what?"

"The slushy you asshole" Quinn says, giving the back of one of his legs a kick so the jock ended up sliding down to his knees, "You slushied someone on the untouchable list, why?"

"On the what?" the jock said sounding genuinely confused. Quinn yanks on his arm again and he yelps in pain, "Stop! Please! I just did what I was told. He pointed out the girl, said it was an initiation thing and she was used to it."

"Who pointed her out?"

"Rick Nelson!"

"Why?" Quinn demands

"I don't know, I swear."

Quinn sighs and releases the jock, taking a step back and motioning for him to stand up. She hold out a hand and like magic a passing Cheerio passes her a full big gulp cup of the same purple slush that he had thrown at Rachel not so long ago.

"So this is what's going to happen. Each day for the rest of this week and all of next, you will receive the same treatment that you gave to Rachel. And if you take it like the man you are pretending to be, that may well be the end of it. And trust me; you are getting off with this very lightly, a lot more lightly than Rick will be. Understand?"

The jock just stands there and gives her the same sort of idiotic look that she's seen on Finn's face a number of times and Quinn has to wonder if a low IQ was a recruitment requirement for some of the sports teams in this school, it would certainly explain a few things.

"For god sake, take your letterman jacket off" Quinn finally says, "Coach will kill you if you get it ruined."

The jock hurried to comply and Quinn sighs again when he just stands there holding the jacket and looking around as if a coat rack was suddenly going to grow out of the floor. She grabs the jacket before throwing the contents of the cup she was holding in his face then passing him back his jacket and the empty cup.

"My advice, bring a change of clothes and a towel, don't wear your letterman and for god sake don't piss me off again."

Quinn turns, her hand sliding into Britt's as the other blonde falls into step beside her, and they had off on a new shared mission. Time to find Rick 'The Stick' and teach him a lesson and Quinn knew exactly where he would be.

The hockey coach has this crazy idea that running around on grass swinging a stick three or four times the weight of the standard stick they use on the ice would somehow give the hockey players more stamina when it came to game time. Quinn found the whole concept rather amusing but if it got results then who was she to complain and it did mean she knew exactly where to find Rick.

She was right of course. Rick was out on one of the practice pitches hitting a small rubber ball back and forth with some of the other hockey players. And laughing. Quinn immediately sees red, her best friend's pregnant girlfriend is in hospital with god knows what wrong with her and this asshole, who at least exacerbated the condition, is having fun! Without conscious thought she stops her way across the pitch, relieving one of the hockey players of his unusually heavy practice stick as she passes and starts to swing it.

She was initially aiming for his knee but by the time she gets close enough she's thought better of that and has controlled the swing, bringing the stick down against Rick's unprotected shin instead with a loud thump and horrible crack and Quinn is pretty sure both bones are broken. Rick immediately falls to the ground, reaching for his shin and crying out but Quinn's stick is pressed against his chest forcing him down into his back.

"That is for Rachel" Quinn says with a surprisingly steady voice. "Go against me again and I'll do the same to both of your knees."

After she's sure her point has been made she throws the practice stick down and turns, taking Britt's hand in hers once more and heads towards her car. She has to get to the hospital.

* * *

Santana had thought she had been prepared for anything, she had steeled herself for phrases like "physical deformity" or "risk of mental damage" or even "higher risk of insert-terrible-illness-here" but the words the doctor had spoken had left her totally surprised.

"You can't be serious" Rachel says, her eyes widening at the doctors news.

"I assure you I am."

The doctor holds out the print out from the sonogram Rachel had been taken for earlier in the day. Santana accepts the picture and they both study it intently for a short while.

"I can't tell anything from this." Santana says with a sigh.

Rachel glances at Santana and huffs, "And what the hell are you grinning about? This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Santana says trying to look surprised, "How's it my fault?"

"Well you're the one who told my fathers that twins run in your family. They sure as hell don't in mine!"

"Ah" Santana says looking a little sheepish but still unable to hide the grin she still wore, "They told you about that."

"Yes, they told me about that." Rachel says as she watches the rather confused doctor making a hasty exit from the room.

She relaxes back onto the bed now that her initial surprise has passed and looks again at the picture she's holding. She still can't make anything out from the black and white fuzz but apparently she's holding the proof that there are not one but two babies currently growing inside her. Two very healthy babies thankfully given what Rachel has suffered recently, but two babies none the less.

"Once we get you out of here, I'm taking you to see my doctor." Santana says.

Rachel huffs, "There's nothing wrong with my doctor Santana, she perfectly capable and just because she made one little mistake…"

"One mistake that could have harmed you or our babies Rach, and for me that's one mistake too many." Santana shakes her head, "No, I'm not risking it again. My doctor has looked after me since before I was borne. If there's anyone that knows anything about special cases it's her, and no" Santana adds quickly when Rachel starts to say something, "I know being a vegan isn't the same thing as my condition, but I trust her a lot more than your old doctor right now."

"San honey, there really is no need for me to change doctors…" Rachel begins.

"Yes there is, because I'll not be able to stop worrying that your doctor has missed something else, something that will really hurt you or the babies. I wouldn't trust her with my own care right now, so why would I trust her with the care of the three most important people in the world to me right now? Please Rachel, please don't argue with me on this one, at least agree to talk to her."

Rachel had been watching Santana very carefully and she could tell that even the Latina couldn't stand even the idea of something happening to her or their children, so if agreeing to talk to the other doctor…

"Okay" Rachel says, "I'll talk to her, we'll talk to her, and then we'll see."

She was rewarded by the Latina pulling her into her arms and holding her tight, one hand carefully stroking Rachel's still flat stomach.

"Buy hey" Santana says still wearing a huge grin, "Twins."

"Yeah" Rachel says, a similar smile gracing her lips, "Twins."

"We're going to need another crib." Santana says suddenly.

* * *

It takes them some time before they both realize that Rachel's fathers and everyone else would still be sitting out in the waiting room worrying about the diva and wondering what was going on, so Santana is dispatched to send the Berry men through to Rachel's room and to bring everyone else up to date.

Half the Glee club manages to crowd round the Latina as soon as she steps through the door of the waiting room, all of them asking questions at the same time ending up creating a cacophony that Santana didn't have any chance of understanding. She waves them off for a moment and crosses to the worried looking Berry men and sending them into Rachel's room with only the assurance that the diva was okay and wanted to fill them in herself. Almost as soon as the Berry men had left the Glee club started with all of their questions again.

"Okay SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Santana shouted, shocking everyone into silence for a moment, a silence that she takes advantage of, "Rachel's doctor screwed up and didn't give her the supplements that she needed while pregnant because of her vegan diet, so she ended up low on some stuff she needed which made her dizzy and black out. They have her on a drip to bring her levels back up and once that's done she'll be able to go home. Both she and the babies are fine."

Everyone seems to be talking at once again but this time the sound is relieved, not worried like it had been before, and then Britt's voice cuts through the noise and causes everyone to go quiet again.

"Wait… Babies?" the blonde asks.

For some reason Santana can't fathom she feels like her face is about to burst into flames it feels so hot, "Yeah" she says ducking her head, "We're having twins."

The next second the Latina has an armful of a very jubilant Britt and Quinn is squeezing her shoulder and smiling at her. She takes a moment to check out the other Glee club members but all she sees is surprise and some confusion.

"Can we see her?" Britt asks when she finally lets Santana go.

"Once her fathers are done and only two at a time." Santana says, "Quinn and Britt first, then… fuck it, the rest of you can sort it out between you."

That of course generated an immediate discussion about who should go when which very quickly deteriorated into a heated argument. Santana really can't be bothered and so leaves them to argue it out between them, instead collapsing into the chair she had occupied when she had originally arrived in the waiting room only a few hours ago, a few hours that felt like an eternity. She drops her head into her hands and tries to sort her way through everything she's felt since she first saw that ambulance.

It takes her a few moments to realize that someone has sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asks quietly.

When Santana shakes her head slightly, the blonde turns and considers the Glee club for a moment. She catches Britt's attention and suggests the dancer take the others to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. As she thought there was some resistance to the idea, some not wanting to miss their turn visiting the diva and others just not interested in eating, but Britt's trademark pout wins the argument easily and shortly Quinn and Santana are along in the waiting room.

"I thought I was losing her Q" Santana says eventually as the tears she's been holding back all morning finally cascade down her cheeks, "Her and the babies. I was so scared… When I saw her lying there on the floor…"

"But she's okay Santana" Quinn tries to comfort the Latina by rubbing small circles on her back, "She's going to get back on her feet and back home and her and the babies will be fine."

"I know, but…" Santana shakes her head and accepts a tissue offered by Quinn, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost her or the babies Q, even just thinking about it hurts."

"Then don't think about it. There's no use torturing yourself with something that didn't happen." Quinn says, "Rachel isn't going anywhere and neither are the babies. So you need to get your head on straight and stop worrying about what didn't happen and concentrate on looking after Rachel and the babies when they go home."

Quinn's words make something click inside Santana's head and she sits up straight, thoughts flying through her mind. The next moment she's on her feet and heading towards the waiting room door, but stops after a few steps and turns back to a confused Quinn.

"I… er… I need to go shower and change" Santana says, she's still wearing the practice uniform from that morning so that was the truth, "And I need to pick up some things from home. Will you… will you and Britt stay till I get back?"

"Sure" Quinn says.

As soon as she has Quinn's agreement, Santana spins on her heel and heads out of the room and eventually out of the building. She does go home to take a shower and change clothes. She collects some things for both herself and Rachel before making a quick phone call before heading into town.

She finds what she was looking for in the third store just as she was wondering if she'd have to go to Columbus at some point. She finds it on a display pad that only contains a few similar items, almost forgotten in the back corner of one of the display cases and as soon as she lays eyes on it she knows it's perfect.

Once they take size measurements from the item Santana borrowed from Rachel's jewellery box they promise they'd have it ready as soon as they can, a couple of days at most. But that wasn't good enough for Santana and once she waves a bunch of cash under their noses, they decide they can have it done in in an hour. Santana checks her watch and very pointedly waits in the store, pacing back and forward from one display case to another, occasionally examining the offerings contained inside and generally making the staff nervous.

When the work is finally complete, Santana is not the only person in the store that is relieved. She pays up, grabs the little bag they gave her and heads back to the hospital.

* * *

When she gets back to the hospital Santana finds Quinn and Britt sitting side by side and otherwise alone in the waiting room and the blondes brought Santana up to speed on what had happened since she had left. Rachel fathers' had taken the news about the twins rather dramatically but Santana didn't really expect much less from them given how dramatic their daughter was. They had eventually left to return to work after the diva had assured them repeatedly that both she and the babies were fine and that she'd see them during the evening visiting.

Then the Glee club had gone in two at a time, Quinn warning each pair not to press about the father of the babies or otherwise stress Rachel out before they went in and making sure they didn't spend too much time alone with Rachel since there were so many people waiting to see her. Mike and Tina had been the last pair to go in and just as Quinn said they were still with her, the pair appeared around through the door of the waiting room to let Quinn know they were heading off.

Santana immediately headed down the corridor to Rachel's room, she didn't want to leave the little diva alone right now no matter what and she already felt like she had been away from the little diva for far too long. That thought stopped the Latina short in the middle of the corridor and cause the nurse that happened to be following behind her to almost crash into her back. She had spent longer times away from Rachel, in fact until recently she spent more time away from Rachel than with her and even yesterday in school they had spent many hours without seeing each other apart for a few moments between classes but now she had barely been separated from the other girl for only a couple of hours and yet if felt like a lifetime.

The Latina shakes her head and continues down the corridor. Rachel's room door is shut and Santana debates for a moment if she should knock but decides not to in case Rachel has managed to drift off to sleep again. Instead she opens the door as quietly as she can and sticks her head into the room to find Rachel lying with her eyes closed and her hands folded protectively over her stomach.

Immediately Santana senses something is wrong, her heart clenching as she realizes that the steady beeping of the heart monitor is gone. The door crashes open as the Latina barrels through and rushes over to Rachel's bedside calling out the diva's name as she did so but when she grabs the other girl's hand she finds it as warm as normal and then Rachel's blinking up at her and smiling.

"Hi" Rachel says.

"Hi" Santana's hand is over her heart and she's trying to get her breathing and heart rate under control.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asks curiously.

"I-I didn't hear the heart monitor."

"They took it off a little while ago thankfully" Rachel supplies, "The beeping was starting to annoy me."

Santana collapses into the chair that happens to be sitting next to Rachel. When she'd come through the door and found the room oddly silent her mind had shot back to the image of Rachel lying on the school floor and the dread that had accompanied that scene had returned as she had immediately imagined the worst. And while Rachel was here and fine yet again, Santana figured that it was going to take some time before she stopped panicking whenever something changed unexpectedly around the diva.

"Rach, for a while that beeping…" Santana starts but trails off just shaking her head unable to even look at the diva.

"What is it Honey?" Rachel asks softly giving Santana's hand a reassuring squeeze when it was apparent that the Latina wasn't going to continue immediately.

Santana takes a shuddering breath, trying to control the sob that wants to escape from her throat, "It was the only thing that proved you were still alive."

Rachel watches the Latina for a long moment, she looks smaller than normal as she sits on the plastic chair shuddering slightly as she tries to control her emotions. "Come here" the diva says holding her arms open and pulling Santana's onto the bed with her when the Latina steps into her arms. They just lay there for a while enjoying the comfort of each other's arms before the door suddenly opened and two porters started maneuvering another bed into the room.

Rachel eyes the process a little sadly, "Looks like I'm getting a roommate, though I would have thought this room was a little small for two. I was hoping it would be just us…"

Santana can't help but grin, "We'll I'm happy to say, that bed's for me. This one is a little small for both of us to sleep in all night."

"You're staying?" Rachel says her face actually lighting up at the news.

"Yup."

"But how? I assume they don't usually let girlfriends stay overnight…"

"I called in a favor or two." Santana replies.

She tries to ignore the inquisitive look that Rachel gives her, but when it morphs into one of the diva's trademark pout she sighs.

"Fine. You remember last year when the Neonatal ICU almost shut down?"

Rachel nods, "Yes. That was rather sad. They needed new equipment but didn't have the funding and it would have been dangerous to carry on with what they had. But they held a fundraiser and got the money."

"Yes they had a fundraiser, but they didn't get all the money the needed." Santana says, "They came up a little short."

"How short?"

Santana sighs again and looks away embarrassed, "About a million dollars."

There is a long silence and eventually Santana turns back to the diva who's sitting literally with her mouth open looking at the Latina. Rachel lifts a hand and gestures to the cheerleader, "You…?" Santana nods and Rachel manages to add, "How? Why?"

"How is easy, I just had to persuade my Papi to release the funds since he was in charge of my trust fund at the time. Though he wasn't exactly happy with the idea for a while, it took to pretty much the last minute for him to agree to make the donation."

"And?" Rachel prompts after a moment.

"And…" Santana takes a deep breath but can't help but feel a little embarrassed, she's supposed to be a badass for god sake! "And I figured if I might never be able to have children… I could at least make sure that babies that did get born got the help they needed."

Rachel squeezes Santana tight again, "You are a wonderful, kind and caring person Santana. I'm glad I have the opportunity to know you." She says before leaning forward to press a kiss against the Latina's lips.

"I'm not kind and caring!" Santana complains, "I'm a badass!"

"Oh shut up San" but Rachel can't help but smile at the other girl. "So the nurses and doctors know?"

Santana shakes her head, "Only a few members of the board, up until then no one outside of the family and Papi's lawyer knew about the trust fund and we wanted to keep it that way. One of the conditions of the donation was that it was to remain confidential."

Rachel looks at Santana aghast, "You called a member of the board just to be able to spend the night here?"

Santana just shrugs, "They were very happy to be able to help me" she says with a grin, "Money makes the world go round Rach and I don't mind using it when I need to as long as it doesn't hurt anyone."

Rachel kisses Santana again and then they snuggle down onto the bed together.

"I love you Rach" Santana whispers to the diva, "I know it's sudden and might not feel the same way right now so you don't have to say it back, but I just want you to know that I do love you and our babies."

"I love you too Santana" Rachel relies quietly, "Do you think I'd have agreed to move in with you if I didn't?"

Both girls are wearing big grins and they spend the next half hour or so making out before they finally separate again to catch their breath.

"I don't suppose you happen to have grabbed a laptop and some DVD's?" Rachel asks looking at the bag Santana had brought in to the room with her, "That thing just gets reality shows and court TV" she adds gesturing to the small television mounted high on the wall.

"Yeah I did" Santana affirms, "But actually I have something else for you first."

Santana stands and walks over to her bag to pull out the small jewellery box she had collected earlier in the day and turns back to the bed Rachel is lying on. The diva's eyes widen and her mouth drops open in surprise when she sees the little faux leather box in Santana's hands.


	18. Chapter 18

"Rachel, you need to breathe for me." Santana says getting increasingly worried about the diva, "Come on, in and out, in and out."

Santana wasn't exactly sure why Rachel had started hyperventilating when she had seen the small box the Latina had produced but right now she was more worried about the effect it was having on the diva had her babies.

"Come on Rach" Santana sits next to the diva and rubs her back with one hand.

Santana was frankly at a loss for what to do and she was seriously considering calling for a nurse when she realizes that every time the diva looks at the small box she still had in her hand, her breathing got more erratic. Oh, oh shit.

"It's not that kind of ring Rachel!" Santana says hurriedly, "It is a ring, but it's not an engagement ring, I know it's too soon for that right now."

It still takes some time but eventually Rachel calms down enough to hold a conversation, "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened."

"You panicked Rach, it's kind of obvious since you had a panic attack" Santana says as she hugs the diva, "But it is okay, I understand. The pregnancy, the moving in together, this little visit to hospital and the I Love You's. A lot's happened in a very short amount of time and you just got overwhelmed and hit the limits of what you could handle. It's okay, really."

"But I do love you …" Rachel begins.

"I know Rach and I love you too. But hey, I don't think I'm ready for an engagement ring right now Rach and I think it's pretty obvious you aren't either." Santana says with a small smile when Rachel blushes, "But that's okay, it doesn't mean that we don't love each other and it doesn't mean that either of us is going anywhere any time soon. It's okay not to be ready for such a big step Rach."

"I'm sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry about baby, I should be sorry for making you freak out like that."

"It's okay."

Santana grins, "So we're both okay?" she asks and when Rachel nods she adds "So can I give you this ring now?"

She opens the little box and holds it out for Rachel to retrieve the little gold ring. The diva examines it closely then looks up, "I've never seen a ring like this before, what is it?"

Santana grins, "It's a traditional Irish ring called a Claddagh ring. The hands, heart and crown represent friendship, love and loyalty and while it can be worn as an engagement ring or wedding band, if you wear it on your right ring finger with the point of the heart pointing to your wrist it means you've found someone that you can trust your heart to." Santana swallows a little nervously, "I was hoping that you'd wear it like that for me."

Without hesitation Rachel slips the ring onto her finger like Santana had described, "Like that?" she asks. The diva looks up at Santana who nods then asks "Did you get one for yourself?"

Santana shakes her head, "I didn't think…"

"Oh" Rachel says her tone a little cold, "So it's alright for you to stake your claim on me, but I can't do the same with you?" she huffs, crossing her arms across her chest "Fine, I see how it is!"

"No Rach!" Santana exclaims, "It's not like that, I honestly just didn't…" She trails off as when she realizes Rachel is trying not to laugh and failing miserably. "That was not funny Rach" Santana complains.

"Actually I'm pretty sure it was. You're pretty easy to wind up honey." Its Santana's turn to huff and Rachel snuggles up to her, "But the first thing we're going to do when I get out of here is get you a matching ring. Okay?"

"Okay." Santana says smiling.

* * *

"Oh dear God!"

Rachel's eyes flutter open as the words involuntarily escape her lips but they remain unfocussed as she is consumed by the fire burning inside her. She blindly gropes for the girl that is laying half on top of her and shakes her gently. The Latina's head is resting on Rachel's shoulder so when she turns to look at the other girl she finds her mouth is just at ear height.

"San-ta-na" she sing-songs playfully before nibbling on the Latina's earlobe.

The pair had cuddled up on Rachel's bed to watch a movie playing quietly on Santana's laptop and while they hadn't intended to fall asleep, they had done just that. A nurse doing her rounds a few hours later had smiled when she found them curled up together, their fingers gripping tightly to the others clothes as if they were in danger of drifting apart. She had checked Rachel's drip without waking either girl, shut down the laptop and turned down the lights to the lowest setting on the way out the door, in the process taking one last glance back to smile at the adorable pair.

But now, in the early hours of the morning, Rachel had found herself awake and so aroused that she thought she might explode and had decided not only to get Santana to deal with the problem but to make sure the Latina was as worked up as she was.

Santana had dozed off wearing Cheerios sweatpants and t-shirt taking off the sweatshirt she had been wearing over it before she had climbed up onto Rachel's bed. The shirt had ridden up her back as she slept and one of Rachel's hands was currently resting on the exposed skin of Santana's back. The diva slowly slid it up under the Latina's shirt with the intention of unhooking the other girl's bra, only to find she wasn't wearing one.

The questing of the diva's hand however cause Santana to shift in her sleep, pressing her thigh between Rachel's legs and sending a bolt of desire through her body.

"Oh jesus, Santana! Wake up!" she whisper-shouts at the other girl, giving her an enthusiastic shake.

"Mm mm, no" Santana groans, "Sleeping."

The Latina moves to get more comfortable, the movement causing the length of her thigh to slide over Rachel's most sensitive area causing the diva to shudder and moan right into Santana's ear. The Latina's eyes shoot open and her head pops up off of the diva's shoulder where it had been resting.

"Rach?"

"Santana, I need you…" Rachel groans

"What?"

"I need you. Now! Please!" Right now Rachel isn't above begging for what she needs.

Santana looks down at the girl below her in confusion for a moment before her eyes widen when she realizes what the diva means, "Rach we can't. We're in a hospital."

"You should have thought about that before you spent the last few hours grinding your thigh against me." Rachel gasps as Santana's movement causes exactly that to happen again.

"I was asleep!" Santana protests

Rachel can't help but chuckle, "And yet, still horny" she observes.

"But…"

"Santana!" Rachel snaps, "I don't care if it's your fingers, your tongue or your cock, but I need you inside of me before I combust!"

Santana had pushed her body off of Rachel until she was lying on her side next to the other girl on the bed. This gave Rachel access to certain areas that were previously unavailable and, without the Latina's realization, she had slipped her hand into the other girls sweat pants and wrapped her fingers around the Latina's rapidly growing erection, giving it a small squeeze that caused Santana's eyes to roll up into her head.

"Fuck Rach…" Santana moans, "Anyone could come in!" she turns her head to look at the door, "That thing doesn't lock."

"Don't care. Fuck me." Rachel demands concisely.

Santana probably wouldn't admit it out loud but the thought of adding a hospital to their list of locations where they had managed to have sex (which currently consisted of a closet at school and the private box at the theater) excited the Latina a little. That and she remember the thrill (followed immediately by a sense of dread) she had felt when a certain pair of blondes had walked in on them at school. In the end the decision was pretty easy since Rachel had started pumping her hand along the Latina's length while looking up at her with those big pleading eyes and her lower lip trapped between her teeth.

"Fine." It comes out more of a squeak than anything else, "But you have to stay quiet, you can't be as loud as you are at home here, god knows what the doctors would think."

Rachel nods, "What are you going to do?"

Santana grins down at the girl below her, "Me? I think I'm going to have a snack."

Their lips met again, tongues dancing back and forth between their mouths until Santana slides her hand between Rachel's legs, cupping her core and causing the diva to buck and moan into the Latina's mouth.

"Fuck Rach, you're soaked."

"Your fault." Rachel pants.

"I think I can live with that" Santana smirks at the girl below her, "Since I get the benefits too."

Santana's lips return to Rachel's for a moment before they move to her jaw, following the curve of her neck down to the valley between her breasts, down over her abs and stomach and lower until Santana settled herself between the diva's legs. Rachel had changed into one of her own nightgowns almost immediately when Santana showed up with her clothes but this was now wrapped up around the diva's waist leaving the pink boy shorts she was wearing underneath exposed.

Santana's breath hitches as she her eyes land on the large damp patch between the other girl's legs, "Fuck Rach…"

The Latina's breath hits Rachel's core causing her to moan and buck under the other girl's gaze and Santana could swear the patch on Rachel's boy shorts got even darker and even larger.

"San…!" Rachel whines, begging the Latina to get on with it.

Santana's hands are actually trembling a little as her fingers work their way under the sides of Rachel's underwear to pull them down her long legs and discard them onto the chair still sitting beside the bed. With Rachel now exposed below her, Santana takes a moment to appreciate her girlfriend, her breath caressing the other girl's naked core causing her to whimper loudly and shift her hips.

"You need to be quiet baby." Santana admonishes the other girl.

Rachel nods and even covers her still open mouth with one hand and Santana drops her head between the diva's legs, her tongue sliding easily between her folds until it has stroked all the way down from her nub to her entrance and back again in one swift and easy movement. Rachel's entire body arches off of the bed for a moment, only her feet and shoulders still touching the bed and pushing her sex harder against Santana's mouth.

The Latina takes the opportunity to nip gently at the diva's clit, something she's found in the past that Rachel likes as long as it's gentle, and then rolls her tongue over the little nub before sliding it down through the girl's folds again to tease her core once again. In the process Rachel slumps back onto the bed still managing to keep totally silent despite the shocks of pleasure shooting through her body.

"Santana… Please…" Rachel begs.

Santana knows exactly what the other girl wants and a moment later two fingers slide smoothly into her core. They both moan as Rachel's heat closes around the Latina's fingers and for a moment Santana wonders if she's the one that's going to need coaching on how to breathe this time. She starts slowly gliding her fingers in and out of the other girl as her tongue works her nub and occasionally darts down to lap at her fingers.

She builds up a rhythm, slowly at first but getting faster as she progresses and she has to admit she's impressed at how quiet Rachel has been. The girl is squirming about underneath her and has her own hands firmly embedded in her own hair but apart from heavy breathing and the odd gasp, she's almost silent. Usually by this time Santana is appreciating how Rachel's thighs lock around her head because they act as wonderful ear protectors.

"… not enough …" Rachel gaps, "I need… you inside…"

"I am inside you baby" Santana replies back but Rachel shakes her head violently from side to side.

"No… You…"

Rachel's meaning clicks in Santana's head and in a moment she has slid her fingers out of the other girl causing her to whimper at the sudden empty sensation. The Latina kneels between the diva's legs hastily pushing down her own sweatpants and girl boxers allowing her erection to spring free from its confinement. There is already some pre-cum oozing out of the tip and Santana slides her fingers through Rachel's folds to collect some of the diva's juices to spread over her shaft.

She leans forward, cock in hand to align herself with Rachel, her glands just brushing over the other girl's entrance, "Ready?" she asks.

Rachel nods and with one slow but smooth movement Santana buries herself up to her hilt in the diva's heat, both of them groaning as the slide together. The Latina supports herself above Rachel's body on her elbows, not wanting to crush the other girl underneath her especially since she's carrying twins, and looks down at her face, waiting until Rachel indicates that she's ready to continue.

It's not going to take long for either of them, Rachel's so worked up from the hours of grinding against Santana in her sleep and any time Rachel's worked up, Santana is too. So Santana wastes no time, pumping her hips to slide in and out of Rachel as the other girl's hand slips between their bodies to finger her clit. Santana's mouth searches for that sensitive pulse point she had discovered on Rachel's neck not so long ago and almost as soon as her lips find their target she feels the diva contracting around her cock.

Rachel's walls flutter around Santana's cock for a moment and then clamp down hard causing the Latina to inadvertently bite down on Rachel's neck. Rachel's body has gone tense underneath Santana, her mouth open in a long and totally silent scream as she shudders uncontrollably, and the repeated pulsations around the Latina's cock are enough to allow Rachel to pull Santana over the edge to fall with her.

Rachel swears that Santana's cock swells to twice its size inside her before it too seems to explode, pulsing and pumping the Latina's hot sticky seed into her willing and receptive body. Both girls shudder and shake and gasp and moan for an indeterminate amount of time before they both collapse, boneless and sated onto the small bed, their bodies still pressed tightly together.

"That was amazing." Rachel manages eventually.

"I don't think I can move." Santana agrees.

"We don't need to."

"We do. What if a nurse came in?" Santana points out.

Eventually they gather the strength to retrieve the tissues and a fresh pair of boy shorts for Rachel and they clean themselves off before settling into bed fully dressed once more. Santana's head is resting on the pillow as she lies facing the little diva and her eyes drop to the pulse point on Rachel's neck.

"Oops" she says with a barley contained grin as she sees the beginnings of a massive hickey.

* * *

Santana stayed with Rachel for the entire duration of her visit to the hospital though sleeping in her own bed on the following nights much to Rachel's disappointment. Santana reminded Rachel that they would have plenty of time to do whatever they wanted when they got home. The Latina only left the hospital to fetch good vegan meals for herself and the diva, she really didn't rate the salads the hospital provided both in quality and variety and they didn't feed her anyway.

When Rachel had discovered that the cheerleader had no intention of going to school that Thursday and Friday, there had been a somewhat animated discussion between the pair of them. Rachel had been adamant that Santana should go to school and not miss any of her school work even though the Latina reminded her that she had a 4.0 GPA much like Rachel's own. Santana was adamant that she wasn't leaving Rachel's side for anything more than the few minutes needed to collect their food, at least until Rachel was back on her feet.

When a nurse stuck her head around the door and told them in no uncertain terms to stop shouting as they were disturbing the other patients, they resorted to rock, paper, scissors.

Santana won.

And then refused Rachel's request for a 'best of three' even when she threatened to make Santana sleep on the couch for a month. The cheerleader had just shrugged, pointed out they had two other fully furnished but otherwise empty bedrooms and theorized, complete with raise eyebrow, at how long Rachel would last when overcome by one of her cravings. The diva had crossed her arms over her chest with a huff and turned bright red but said no more.

Rachel was released early Friday afternoon once tests had confirmed that all her levels were back to normal. She had been supplied with some supplements to tide her over until her appointment with the doctor, which Santana had booked for the following Monday, and the letter the doctor had promised. One of Rachel's fathers had to sign her out of the hospital but it was Santana's card that was handed over when it was time to arrange a payment method for the bill. Both Mr Berry's had objected to Santana paying, but she just ignored them and glared at the bean counter until he declared that the bill had been "paid in full thank-you-very-much".

A much more interesting argument occurred just as Rachel was ready to leave the hospital and head home. Her fathers were of the opinion that she should go home with them, after all she'd only been living with Santana for a few weeks and she had already ended up in the hospital. Santana had pointed out, quite rightly she thought, that the reason Rachel ended up in hospital was due to their doctor being incompetent and not due to her living with Santana.

The argument looked like it was going to become somewhat spectacular until Rachel had stepped up next to Santana, slid her hand into the other girls and announced that she was going home… with Santana and her fathers were welcome to come and visit later in the day if they wanted to.

When they stepped outside the hospital they were all surprised to find it was raining quite heavily and looked like it had been for some time. Santana makes Rachel wait in the shelter of the hospital entrance while she runs across the parking lot to collect her car before driving up to the hospital and throwing open the passenger door to allow the diva to dive inside. The roads were unusually busy for the time of day and with Santana taking it easy because of the rain, it took them longer than usual to get to finally get home.

Santana made Rachel wait in the car until she got the front door open, but even with just the short distance between the car and the door Rachel still ended up getting damn. They hang up their jackets and step out of their shows, both girls sighing with relief as the front door closes behind them, happy to be home and together without the bustling nurses or intrusive doctors popping in to the room every thirty minutes.

"So what are we going to do now?" Rachel asks as she drops herself down onto one of the sofas, "I don't particularly want to go anywhere in that."

"Vegetate, watch movies and don't move unless we need to?" Santana suggests.

The Latina slips down onto the sofa next to Rachel, pulling the smaller girls body onto hers resting the other girls head in her lap and running her fingers through her hair.

"Pretty much what we've been doing for the last couple of days then." Rachel observes, "Sounds like a plan."

And that's exactly what they did. After a short yet enthusiastic "discussion" about what they should watch, they settled on alternating musicals and movies, Santana refusing the non-stop musical marathon that Rachel had proposed even though the diva brought out her way to cute pout. They curled up together on the sofa only moving when nature required it or the needed food or drinks became too strong. Rachel's fathers did visit for an hour after they got back from work and while no one apologized for the argument at the hospital, no one was expecting an apology either. The one thing they all could agree on was that they wanted the best for Rachel, even if they couldn't agree on what the best for her was.

Rachel pointed out, rather loudly, that unless she was incapacitated for some reason, she would be the one deciding what was best for her.

Santana can't help but wonder what would happen should Rachel be incapacitated but even the thought of that makes the Latina sick to her stomach.

It's nearly eleven at night when there is another knock on the door and the girls had just been discussing heading to bed. Santana peers through the spyhole then her eyes go wide and she yanks open the door. It is still raining outside, though it's not as heavy as it had been earlier in the day, and the blonde cheerleader standing on the doorstep looks soaked to the skin. But the wetness on the Quinn's cheeks isn't from the rain, the black eye she's sporting tells Santana that much at least.

Quinn looks up at Santana, swallowing thickly before she speaks, "Russell's back."

* * *

Santana had been so filled with fury that she had been unable to decide between helping her friend and going straight over to the Fabray house and kicking Russell's ass so it had been Rachel that pulled Quinn into the house, wrapped her in a large fluffy towel and sat her down on one of the sofa's in the living room.

"What happened Quinn?" she asks softly.

The blonde sniffs and accepts the tissues instantly offered to her by the diva and watches as Santana finally drags herself away from the door and drops down on the sofa next to her.

"I went to Britt's after school" she begins, "doing homework and… stuff."

Rachel takes it as a sign of how pissed off Santana is that she doesn't even attempt to make a snarky comment at this point.

"When I got home he was just there, sitting in the den like he always did. He scared the shit out of me when he called me through and Mom just smiled at me like she was actually happy. He told me he was back, that everything was going to go back to how it was before…" Quinn actually shudders at the though, violently enough that even Rachel and Santana can see it, "I-I told him it wasn't, I couldn't live like that anymore, not after having a taste of freedom. And I knew if he found out about me and Britt he'd kick me out anyway. So I told him if he was coming back I was leaving and then he did this." She points at her eye, "Out of nowhere he just swung a fist and punched me."

"He tried to lock me in my room but he didn't know the lock is broken. I started packing immediately and when he and Mom went out I threw everything I own in my car and left."

Quinn looks up at Santana, "I went to your place but there was no one there. I thought you might be at Rachel's but her Dads said you were here?"

"We live here now." Santana says with a nod, "Rachel and I."

Quinn nods back in return, "I need somewhere to stay for a few days. I can't go to Britt's; they don't have a lot of free space as is. Can I… can I crash on your sofa until I find somewhere to go?"

Santana and Rachel's eyes meet across the room and at the end of their silent conversation neither girl is in any doubt about what the other thinks.

"No Quinn, you can't crash on our sofa" Rachel says. Instantly Quinn's shoulders slump but before she can make to stand Rachel's hand is on her shoulder, "I mean, we have two empty bedrooms right here and you're welcome to use one of them. And you can stay here for as long as you like, you don't need to make any other arrangements."

"Are you sure?" Quinn asks looking up hopefully.

"Absolutely" Santana says, "Assuming you don't mind living in the same house as a hormonal diva and a couple of screaming kids in seven months or so."

"Hey! I'm not hormonal!"

"And who spent an hour in the middle of the night on Monday crying when we ran out of ice cream and Walmart didn't have any in stock?" Santana teases.

Rachel huffs, crossing her arms over her chest, and Santana turns back to Quinn, "Go upstairs and warm up with a shower; I'll get your stuff from your car."

Quinn nods and stands, crossing to the bottom of the stairs before stopping and looking back into the living room, "Thank you" she says, "Both of you."


	19. Chapter 19

She almost missed the soft knock on the door as she sat on the padded bench in front of the window and gazed out at the rain that fell steadily against the glass. She was surprised when the knock wasn't followed by the door bursting open and someone charging in as they would at home, but then this wasn't home… Or rather this was home and home… wasn't.

Another knock, slightly louder, and this time Quinn actually responds, "Come in."

She thought it would be Rachel but it's Santana that pushes the door open and steps inside. She still looks a little damp from all the back and forth she had done to bring Quinn's possessions into the house, she had refused to allow Rachel to go out in the rain, but the Latina hadn't said one word of complaint at the task. And Quinn is thankful that Santana at least won't ask too many questions right now.

"I thought you might be able to use some pain killers" Santana offers holding out one hand that held a small pill bottle and a bottle of water "and an ice pack, for your eye."

Quinn nods and accepts the pills, spilling two out into her palm before swallowing them with a mouthful of water. She takes the ice pack though she's pretty sure it's too late to minimize anything, but Santana stops her before she can bring it to her eye.

"We should take some photos" Santana says producing a camera that had been hung over her shoulder on a strap.

Quinn shakes her head, "There's no point."

"Yes there is Q, I'd rather have photos we didn't need than not have them when we needed them."

"I don't want people to see photos of me like this." Quinn says quietly.

Santana nods, "I get that Q so here's what we'll do." She takes a small plastic container out of her jeans pocket and extracts the contents, "A fresh memory card." She inserts the card into the camera and waits till the little screen reports that it's ready, "We'll take the photos then you can keep the card. You'll have the only copies so no one will see, and if we need them we'll have them."

Quinn sighs but she's not in the mood to fight and it's too late at night anyway. She nods slightly and turns towards Santana who takes a number of shots of her eye.

"Anywhere else?"

The blonde had taken a shower when she had climbed the stairs and was now wrapped in a large fluffy white robe. She pushes up the right sleeve all the way to the shoulder exposing a massive hand shaped bruise on her upper arm. She looks up at Santana and while the other girls face remains calm, Quinn can see her knuckles turning white as she grips the camera and brings it up to her eyes. She silently takes more pictures, checking the results on the small screen on the back before ejecting the memory card, inserting it back into the plastic holder and holding it out with a slightly shaking hand to Quinn.

"You should call Britt" Santana suggests, "Have her come over."

Quinn shakes her head as she applies the icepack to her eye, "I don't want her seeing this."

"But you don't want her going over to your ho… to your Moms place looking for you." She corrects herself.

As Quinn reaches for her mobile, Santana steps out of the room and heads back downstairs to where Rachel is waiting in the living room, dropping onto the sofa next to the other girl.

"Is it bad?" the diva asks.

Santana nods, "She's had worse from Cheerio's training but…" she rests her head back on the sofa and closes her eyes, "She has a huge hand shaped bruise on her arm too."

"I'm proud of you." Rachel says.

"What?"

"Not that long ago you would have been on your way over there right now with the intention of getting revenge. But instead you're using your head." Rachel replies indicating the camera that had been the cheerleader's idea.

"Oh don't get me wrong Rach, I still want to kill the fucker. But I'm realistic enough to know I'm going to need help for that."

Rachel just rolls her eyes and snuggles up into the Latina. They stay there for five minutes just holding each other before Rachel suggests they head up to bed.

"Give it ten more minutes." Santana says

"For what?"

"You'll see."

Sure enough, less than five minutes later and Santana stands to open the front door to another blonde. Britt steps in out of the rain, duffel bag thrown over her shoulder, and Santana points her in the direction of Quinn's room. As she steps up onto the bottom step of the stairs she turns back towards the other two girls.

"Is it okay if I stay the night?" she asks.

"Sure Britt" Santana replies, "Whenever you like, you don't need to ask."

* * *

It was nice to wake up in her own bed again with Rachel curled into her side rather than on the narrow and too hard beds of the hospital. To be honest Santana hadn't slept well last night since she was so furious both at what Russell had done and that Judy had allowed it to happen, allowed him to come back. She was just thankful that Quinn had come to seek them out, she had no idea where her best friend would have ended up otherwise, and that Britt had shown up as the Latina had known she would. It wouldn't have mattered how much Quinn had told Britt not to come over, she knew that as soon as the two blondes were off of the phone Britt would be on the way over. Right now Santana is happy that Quinn has someone that cares for her so deeply.

Santana looks down at Rachel just as she snuggles even closer to the Latina and can't help but smile, her heart swelling at the knowledge that she too has someone that cares deeply for her, just as she cares for Rachel.

Santana had always thought that it was a little creepy to watch someone sleep, but when it comes to Rachel she doesn't care anymore. She could watch the other girl sleep until the end of time and never get bored. She raises her hand and gently allows her fingers to slide through the diva's hair, smiling when she starts to make a noise that almost sounds like she's purring.

Santana is grateful that it is the weekend. She hasn't had to face anyone at school since Wednesday and she's sure that there are going to be a lot of questions at least from the Glee club. And if she's really unlucky, Mercedes and Kurt will have shown their usual restraint, i.e. none, and blabbed to anyone who will listen.

The Latina allows herself to consider for a moment what it would be like to be out at school and finds, rather to her surprise, that she likes the idea. Being able to walk hand in hand down the corridor with each other than just side by side, being able to kiss her girlfriend goodbye at the door to her class, being able to sit next to her in Glee and hold hands or even rest her head on Rachel's shoulder (or vice-verse of course).

She's a little more reticent about the news of Rachel's pregnancy getting out. She knows that she and the diva were already going to get a grilling from certain members of the Glee club about the babies' paternity which is going to cause an unacceptable amount of stress for Rachel. If the news of her pregnancy were to become public knowledge, something Santana accepts is going to happen sooner or later, that would simply add to the stress and leave the Latina would have a choice.

Saying nothing would be the easiest for her but would hurt Rachel a lot, it would add rumors and finger pointing and whispering about who the father was to all the whispering and sneers she was probably going to get anyway, even when Santana stood up for her. That left telling everyone the truth, or at least telling the Glee club the truth which amounted to telling everyone anyway. The result? She's probably be kicked off of the Cheerios, end up at the bottom of the social hierarchy, be ostracized, mocked and probably bullied, maybe even beaten up.

Oddly even all of that sounded less painful than hiding the truth and leaving Rachel to suffer.

That day on the bleachers she had told Rachel that she would gladly post the truth about her condition on Facebook right then if that's what it took for the diva to give her a chance. And while she had been telling the truth, there had been a certain amount of anxiety that the diva would ask her to do exactly that. Looking down at where Rachel now slept, her head pillowed on Santana's shoulder, the Latina knew there now wouldn't be a seconds hesitation or worry about telling all as long as Rachel were by her side.

Nothing else mattered except Rachel and the babies.

"You're thinking too loud." Rachel mumbles from her place on Santana's shoulder while tightening her grip around the Latina's waist.

"How would you know? You haven't even opened your eyes." Santana teases.

"Being a creeper too huh?"

Santana chuckles causing a squeak of protest from Rachel when the vibrations through the cheerleaders body causes her to bounce up and down, "I don't think you can be a creeper if you're in love with the person you're watching." She replies.

"Love you too San."

They fall into a comfortable silence for a while, each just happy to have a few moments peace where they can enjoy holding the other before Santana breaks the silence.

"Rach, I want to be able to hold your hand at school, to be able to give you a hug, to be able to kiss you in the corridor. I don't want to hide us anymore."

"I don't think we could if we wanted to baby, but for the record I don't want to hide either."

"So what do we do?" Santana asks.

Rachel grins even though she has still to open her eyes, "We walk into school hand in hand on Monday, we hug each other at our lockers, we kiss when we separate to go to our classes and we let people talk. The message will get around soon enough."

"And the babies?" Santana asks.

Rachel frowns for a moment then sighs, "Not yet. If Mercedes and Kurt can keep their mouths shut, which would be a miracle I know, I'd like to keep that knowledge to those who already know just a little longer."

Santana can feel the diva roll of off her slightly while the arm across her waist being removed and the Latina knows Rachel's hand is now stroking her stomach, something she has noticed the diva doing more and more recently, probably without even realizing she's doing it.

"Oh my God!" Rachel says suddenly rolling flat onto her back.

Santana sits up almost immediately, heart racing and images of everything that could be wrong flitting through her mind, "What's wrong Rach?"

"Nothing, look! Give me your hand"

Santana does as she's told, holding out her hand and allowing the diva to pull it over to her body. Rachel has pulled the t-shirt she's wearing up and places Santana's hand on her stomach.

"Feel that?" she asks slowly guiding Santana's hand over her body.

It takes a moment for Santana to reign in her libido, to control the arousal that always occurs when she has skin on skin contact with the diva, and to recognise what Rachel was trying to show her.

"¡Dios mío! Is that…?"

"Our babies, yes."

Santana's hand rested over a small but perceptible bump in Rachel's usually flat stomach, the first real external sign of the miracle that was happening within the little diva. The cheerleader couldn't really see anything when she looked closely at Rachel's torso, but under the sensitive tips of her fingers she could feel the small bump.

"I'm sure it wasn't there last night." Rachel says with a frown trying to remember.

"It doesn't matter baby. It's there now, that's all that matters." Santana has to blink back tears as she keeps running her fingers up and down Rachel's stomach. "It's beautiful" she whispers, "And you're beautiful too Rach."

* * *

The smell of food wafting up the stairs finally causes Rachel and Santana to drag themselves out of bed. They jump into the shower together for a while before they finally descend the stairs to find Quinn and Brittany in the kitchen.

Quinn looks up to see Rachel pouting at her from the door to the living room. "Um, I'm sorry Rachel. When I saw the bacon in the fridge I thought it would be okay… And I don't know how to make anything vegan. I'll… uh… get rid of this."

"No, it's not that Quinn" Rachel says, "If I can't even get Santana to go vegan and she's my girlfriend, I can't expect a housemate to convert. I'm glad you used the correct cookware though."

"Well, given one set was labelled 'Vegan' and the other was labelled 'Carnivore', it would have been difficult to pick the wrong ones."

Santana chuckles from her place behind Rachel, her arms wrapping around the smaller girl, "That's the last time I leave you alone with the label maker." She whispers into Rachel's ear.

"So what's wrong Rachel?" Quinn asks, "You look like someone kicked your puppy."

"I'm just having a craving." Rachel says.

"Want to go back upstairs baby?" Santana whispers into Rachel ear, earning her a jab in the gut from Rachel's elbow.

"Santana! I'm not craving for sex!" the diva blurts turning bright red when Quinn and Britt look at her in surprise, "I just have a sudden craving for bacon."

Quinn looks at the bacon in the pan in front of her with a frown, not sure if she's supposed to offer the vegan some or not, "Um… do you want some then?"

"No" Rachel says, "Yes… No…"

That really didn't help with Quinn's confusion.

"Rach, how about we go out for brunch. We can try that new place downtown that you wanted to try." Santana suggests

The diva nods and disappears upstairs to change before they head out and Santana sighs in relief.

"So does Rachel eat meat now?" Britt asks.

"No, but that doesn't stop the cravings. And trust me, the days she craves meat are generally not fun."

"How does she even know what it tastes like to crave it?" Britt asks.

Santana just shrugs, "As far as I can tell there's nothing logical about cravings, they just are what they are. Do me a favour and have this place cleaned up and aired out before we get back would you please?"

Quinn and Britt nod and Santana turns to head upstairs to change too, only to be stopped by Quinn's voice.

"She craves sex?"

"Yeah, sometimes." Santana grins throwing a wink at the other girls, "And don't you wish you were as lucky as I am?"

* * *

Rachel hadn't been sure what she had been expecting from a doctor's office. Tired seating, battered coffee tables and out of date magazines probably, that's pretty much what she'd seen in the waiting room of her own doctor's office the few times she'd been there. But this office looks more like her therapist's waiting room, big comfy sofa's and tables full of magazines on a variety of subjects that were amazingly all up to date.

Santana was sitting next to her with a music industry magazine in her lap, one hand flicking through the pages while the other was entwined with Rachel's resting on the sofa between them. Rachel had tried to read and had even tried to entertain herself with games or videos on her phone, but the thought of visiting a strange doctor had left her feeling a little uncomfortable.

On the Friday that Rachel had been released from hospital, they had arranged for a copy of Rachel's records to be couriered over to Santana's doctor who had apparently taken them home to study over the weekend. And now on Monday morning Rachel's fathers had called in to the school to excuse them from morning lessons so that they could visit this doctor. Rachel knows that Santana trusts her doctor more than Rachel's, especially after the incident with the lack of supplements, but that doesn't make it easier for the diva, especially when they were going to discuss something to personal.

When they are finally called Rachel checks the time and is surprised to find that they are being called exactly on time for her appointment, she's used to her own doctor running a little late even early on in the day. Santana leads her through the building to a closed door where she knocks and enters when a voice from inside calls 'Come In'.

"Ah Santana" the older woman stands from her desk and walks over to the Latina extending her hand, "It's so good to see you again. How have you been? I can't remember the last time I saw you."

"It was six months ago at my annual check-up doc. And I'm fine thanks, as always." Santana rolls her eyes but Rachel can see the small grin that she's trying desperately to hide.

"And you must be Rachel. It's good to meet you since Santana has told me absolutely nothing about you."

"It's nice to meet you too doctor… um…" Rachel says realising she hasn't been told the doctors name.

"Please, call me Maggie. I've known Santana since she was borne so we don't stand on ceremony here."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Maggie." Rachel says politely and she can't help but like the doctor just a little bit already.

Maggie invites them both to sit and then pulls out Rachel's file and flicks through it and her own notes she made over the weekend to remind herself of all the details.

"So you're pregnant Rachel" Maggie begins before her eyes slide over to Santana, "I guess we don't need to bother with that fertility test you've been avoiding Santana."

The Latina can't help but blush, "I guess not. Looks like you were wrong about that doc."

"And I've never been happier to have been wrong Santana." The doctor says with a smile, "It's not often my patients prove me wrong and it's even rarer that the result is good news." Maggie pauses for a moment then looks between the pair sitting in front of her, "It is good news, isn't it?"

Santana and Rachel look to one another, their hands finding each other to slide together between them, and Rachel answers, "We weren't sure at first, but yes, it is good news."

Santana just nods in agreement and Maggie smiles.

"Why were you avoiding the test San?" Rachel asks.

Santana just shrugs and looks away, "I was scared Rach. When I didn't know, there was still a chance. But if I took the test and it came back negative…"

"I understand." Rachel says squeezing Santana's hand and pulling the Latina closer to her, "But we know the test would be positive now, so there's no need to be upset. Okay?"

Santana nods and they both turn their attention back to the doctor who they find smiling at them.

"Okay" she says, "So I've looked over your records and I can't fault them up to the first visit related to the pregnancy. After that however, things seem to be a little… lacking."

"Lacking?" Santana asks.

"Don't get me wrong, the care your doctor recommended is perfectly acceptable Rachel. For someone in their twenties, having their second child and who had no complications during their first pregnancy. Given your age and the fact it is your first pregnancy, I would have expected a more rigorous regime of testing and monitoring even without taking into account your vegan diet."

"I knew it!" Santana declares, "I knew she was no good."

"I'm not saying she isn't a good doctor Santana" Maggie corrects the Latina, "There is no solid guide for monitoring first time mothers, especially one so young. Yes there are minimum guidelines but all doctors have their own opinions on how much above that they should go, and your Doctor doesn't go very much above that guide Rachel." The doctor takes a breath before adding "That said, it is inexcusable that she didn't recognise that your diet would require supplements."

"So what would you do differently?" Rachel asks.

"Well, I know you've just had a sonogram, but I'd like to do another one right now because you can only tell so much from the stills. And no" she says as Santana opens her mouth to interrupt, "I don't think there is anything wrong with the babies, it's simply for my own piece of mind."

Santana nods and the doctor continues, "We have the equipment to do that right now if you agree. I'd also like to see you at least twice a month for a full examination, a set of blood and urine tests and a sonogram, moving to weekly in the last month of the pregnancy. We have a number of nurses here that can give one on one education for anything related to the pregnancy, birth and child care and we even run our own Lamaze classes here. I think we have a couple of other expecting couples around the same point in their pregnancy as you at the moment."

"What do you think Rach?" Santana asks when the doctor pauses.

Rachel nods, "That sounds like a lot more extensive than anything my old doctor offered me, but isn't it going to be expensive?"

"You don't need to worry about that Rach, you should know that by now." Santana says, "If you want this, we can get things started immediately. Think of what's best for the babies."

"Okay" Rachel nods, "Let's do it."

The doctor produces and takes Rachel through a bunch of paperwork that she will need to get her fathers to sign and then they head down to the room with the sonogram equipment. Rachel climbs up onto the chair and lifts the front of her top allowing the doctor to spread the contact gel over her stomach.

"Just starting to show I see." Maggie says with a smile as she runs her finger tips over the small bump, "That would have been a good hint for twins if we didn't already know. It would be a little early for most people with just a single pregnancy."

Maggie applies the equipment to Rachel's stomach and spends quite a bit of time moving the probe around and examining the images on the screen. "Well, everything looks perfect, but we knew that already." She says then adds, "I wonder…"

She fiddles with some switches on the machine and a soft buzz fills the room. She moves the probe around a little more and suddenly a rapid beating noise can be heard.

"What's that?" Rachel asks.

"That is the heartbeat of one of your babies Rachel." Maggie says, "Let's see if we can get the other one."

The probe is moved back to the other side of Rachel's stomach and after a few moments of silence another rapid beating can be heard.

"There we go, two perfectly healthy sounding fetal heartbeats."

Rachel glances up at Santana who's been standing by her side holding her hand since she sat down and finds the Latina's eyes as full of tears as her own and with just as big a smile gracing her lips.

Maggie disengages the machine and passes Rachel some tissues to clean herself up with. Once Rachel's done, Maggie passes her some pictures that she had printed out during the examination and a silver DVD.

"The DVD contains the video output of the sonogram so you can watch it again if you want and hear the heartbeats." The doctor supplies.

"Don't you need this?" Rachel asks.

"Nope, we've got a copy on our server, those are for you." Maggie smiles, "Now, let's head back to the examination room. There is one last thing we need to take care of."

Once they made it back to the other room Santana can't help but notice that the doctor seems rather unsettled and that gives the Latina cause for concern, she's known Maggie for all of her life and she's never been like this before.

"So, before you go I just need to take a blood sample from you Santana." The doctor says.

"Why?"

Maggie glances at Rachel before answering, "Because we need to find out if you are a carrier of Tay–Sachs disease like Rachel is."

Rachel gasps her free hand shooting up to her mouth as the other suddenly squeezes Santana's hand that she had been holding since they had come back into the examination room, "Oh God, no…"

Santana looks over at Rachel in confusion noting the tears that are already streaming down the other girls cheeks, "What's Tay–Sachs disease?"

"It's a genetic condition, a faulty gene." Maggie says, "Each child gets two copies of this particular gene from their parents. If one copy is faulty, the child will be a carrier of the disease."

"Like Rachel?" Santana interrupts.

Maggie nods, "Like Rachel. They themselves are perfectly healthy but they can pass the faulty gene to their children."

"And if a child gets two faulty copies?" Santana asks not entirely sure she wants to know the answer.

"Well, from about six months onwards they start to present with symptoms of the condition, then…" Maggie begins.

"They die" Rachel interrupts her voice strangely flat, "Usually before the age of four. A long, slow, horrible death." Maggie makes to say something but Rachel continues, "It starts with blindness and deafness. Then they lose the ability to swallow and eventually become paralyzed before…" Rachel breaks down sobbing.

Santana pulls the smaller girl into her lap and holds on tight, her own heart breaking with just the thought of what could happen to their children.

"And if I'm a carrier…?" Santana asks looking at the doctor.

"Then there is a twenty five percent chance that any single child will suffer from the disease, a fifty percent chance they'd be a carrier and a twenty five percent chance they'd be unaffected."

Santana closes her eyes and takes a shuddering breath, trying to control herself so she can lend what comfort she can to the sobbing girl in her arms.

"Santana, there is a very small chance that you'll be a carrier. In the general population in the USA the rate is only one in three hundred." Maggie offers.

"If-If I'm a carrier" Santana swallows, "When will we know about the babies?"

"We can do a test any time between ten and twenty weeks that can give is an accurate result one way or the other."

Santana sticks her arm out and nods, allowing the doctor to take a blood sample without having to release Rachel from her grip.

"When will we get a result?"

"If I put a priority on it we should get an answer before the end of the week." Maggie says, "But it'll cost more…"

"I don't care; whatever it costs get us an answer, fast." Santana says. Maggie nods and the Latina looks down at the girl on her lap, "Come on baby, let's go home. I don't feel like going to school today."


	20. Chapter 20

As soon as Santana managed to open the front door, Rachel heads directly to the living room and curls up on one of the sofas.  The drive back from the doctor had been silent apart from the occasional sob from the little diva who had spent most of the time staring sightlessly out of the passenger side window with her arms wrapped around her stomach, a position she mirrored as she lies on the sofa.

Santana crosses to sit next to Rachel, her hand coming to rest on the other girls back in an attempt to lend some comfort but the diva shrugs the touch off as if it burns and huddles into an even tighter ball if that was possible.  Santana tried not to be hurt by that, she couldn’t begin to understand what the little diva was feeling right now, she felt like her own heart had been ripped out and torn to shreds, she’s barely able to function herself and it had to be so much worse for Rachel knowing that the babies inside her may be destined to die way too young.

She’d never admit it but right now all Santana wanted was her Mama to come hold her and promise her that everything would be alright, just as she had when the Latina was a little child and had skinned her knee, even though she’s supposed to be strong, trying to be strong for Rachel.  But her parents are god knows where right now, anything up to half a planet away and a phone call or Skype session just wouldn’t help, talking just isn’t the same.  The thought gives Santana an idea though and she steps through to the kitchen before reaching for her mobile phone to dial the number.

He answers almost immediately, “Santana? Is something wrong?”

Santana wouldn’t be calling at this time if there wasn’t and he knows where they’ve just been, but she refrains from pointing any of that out and instead limits herself to “Rachel needs you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The doctor…” Santana swallows thickly, “The doctor asked me for a blood sample.”

“Okay” Hiram said after a moment.

Santana can’t believe how difficult it is to continue but she forces herself to say the words, “T-to test if I’m a Tay-Sachs carrier.”

“I’ll call LeRoy, We’ll be right there.” Hiram says after a few moments of silence, “How is she?”

All Santana can manage is “Please…” before her legs won’t hold her any longer and she ends up curled up like Rachel on the kitchen floor.

* * *

She slams the locker shut and rests her forehead against the cold steel for a moment.  It’s been one hell of a day already and Quinn hadn’t even had more than a fleeting chance to say hello to Britt never mind spend some quality time together.  Okay granted the pair had pretty much spent the whole weekend locked into her room, her new room anyway, but right now Britt was pretty much all she had any more and she felt like she’s lost a part of herself with the other blonde wasn’t around.

Co-dependant much?

Not to mention Santana and Rachel hadn’t shown up yet either.  Quinn knew they were supposed to have an appointment so that Rachel could meet Santana’s doctor this morning but they were supposed to be back in school by now.  It’s not like Quinn cares either way, Santana can look after herself after all, but given that she and Rachel had given Quinn a roof over her head when she had nowhere to go, she felt sort of obligated to look out for the diva.

“Hey Baby Mama.”

Quinn rolls her eyes, “Puckerman!  I told you if you called me that again, I’d castrate you.”

“What’s true is true” Puck says with a shrug

“Except it was never true you moron, it was a false alarm.” Quinn hisses back at him, “So if you ever actually want to have kids, you’ll shut your mouth and quit calling me that.”  She can’t help but smirk when a thought occurs to her, “Or maybe you’re shooting blanks?  How many girls have you failed to knock up when they think your using protection?  You should probably think about getting that tested.” She says pointing a finger in the general direction of Puck’s crotch.

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with the boys!” Puck declares, “And I’ll prove it any time you want!”

“Eww, so not going to happen Puckerman.  Ever.”  Quinn sneers, “Was there something you actually wanted or did you just feel like pissing me off?”

“I was wondering if you’d seen Rachel.  I know she got out of the hospital on Friday and I was just wondering how she was.  I thought she might be in school.”

“And why would I know?” Quinn asks. 

No one knows about her living situation yet, or Santana and Rachel’s to her knowledge, and if someone is spreading rumors then she wants to know about it.

“Well, you’re always hanging out with Santana and she’s pretty much welded to Rachel these days.”  Puck shrugs.

Quinn breathes a sigh of relief; he obviously didn’t know which hopefully meant that no one else did either, for the moment anyway.  “She had an appointment with Santana’s doctor this morning to talk about switching from the incompetent one that caused her to end up in hospital but they should have been here before last period.”

Puck nods, “Let me know if you hear anything?”

“Okay.”

Quinn watches Puck walk away down the corridor to apparently hit on some random Cheerio that caught his eye before turning to go search for her girlfriend.  She wasn’t particularly hungry for lunch but there was something else she felt like eating.

* * *

The Berry men arrive at almost exactly the same time even though they were on opposite sides of the town.  When their knocks go unanswered they search for and eventually find the hidden key and let themselves in to the house.  They find Rachel easily enough, still curled up and sobbing occasionally on the sofa and LeRoy immediately sits next to her pulling her daughter into his arms.  She resists at first, pulling back and shaking her head while making a little whimpering noise, but once she realizes who’s holding her she relaxes into his arms, her hands clutching at the sweater he’s wearing.

Hiram watches from the living room door, not because he doesn’t want to go and comfort his daughter but because he doesn’t want to crowd her right now and he knew that LeRoy would show his usual amount of restraint when it came to their distraught daughter, i.e. none. 

He is rather surprised that Santana isn’t anywhere to be seen though, he would never have taken her as one that would leave Rachel’s side when she was upset, but then he remembers the pain in her voice when she had called him and he’s pretty sure that wherever she is, she’s hurting just as badly as his daughter and after all she’d called them less than ten minutes ago to make sure Rachel was not alone.  

She had made sure Rachel would be taken care of before she went wherever she went.

His own heart was breaking just looking at Rachel right now.  When she had been born they knew her mother wasn’t a carrier so they knew she would be fine, it was part of the pre-agreement screening tests that they had demanded.  He can’t even imagine what it would feel like to be carrying two babies that might end up suffering from that horrible disease. 

They had tested Rachel as soon as they could to find out what her status was, which was why the results were in her doctors file.  The idea had been so that they would be prepared for this day, so that Rachel could be prepared should this ever happen, but they had never expected it this early and while they had never hidden her status from Rachel, they had all forgotten about when the time came. 

Hiram really wanted to blame their doctor, but he and LeRoy were just as much to blame.

Hiram wasn’t sure a glass of water would actually help at all this time, but it would at least give him something to do and Rachel was still firmly attached to LeRoy right now.  So he heads through to the kitchen to find Santana curled on the floor, mobile phone lying nearby, where she had fallen when her legs wouldn’t support her any more.

Hiram’s heart aches when he sees the girl and any animosity he had for her for leaving Rachel evaporates.  He remembers how passionate Santana had been about the babies, how painful it had been for her when she had thought that Rachel was having an abortion and how happy she had been when she found out her babies were going to have a chance at life even if it meant the truth about her came out.

He steps over and wraps his arms around the girl trying to pull her up to her feet so he can guide her through to the living room.

“No” Santana says trying to shrug him off, “Rach… Rachel…”

“Its okay” he says trying to reassure her, “LeRoy is with Rachel.  Now come on, let’s get you up off this cold floor and somewhere more comfortable.”

Santana allows him to help her up and he guides her through to the empty sofa in the living room, not releasing her when she sits but pulling her into a hug like the one she had imagined her mother giving her.  She looks towards Rachel and she can tell the diva is still crying, much like herself, from the shuddering of her body as she clings to her father, her face still buried in his neck as he rocks her slowly back and forward.

Santana tries not to feel jealous, it **is** her father for God’s sake, but she can’t help but feel that it should be her that comforts Rachel not him.  At that moment, as if Rachel could feel what Santana was thinking, the diva’s head shoots up and her eyes lock with the Latina’s.  Santana literally gasps at the pain she sees reflected in those eyes but the next thing she knows, the diva had extracted herself from LeRoy’s arms and has thrown herself at the Latina leaving them both wrapped up on the sofa together as Hiram moves to sit next to his husband to give them room.

Santana has no idea how long they’ve been sitting there when the front door opens again but Rachel’s fathers have been floating about trying to make themselves useful.  The magazines on the coffee table are sorted alphabetically and arranges in perfect fans shapes that would make Miss Pillsbury proud, the DVD’s sitting next to the TV are now stacked by genre and title, there isn’t a dirty dish in the kitchen anymore and at one point she had seen Hiram wandering around with a duster waving it ineffectually at various surfaces, even though the place was spotless, while shooting Rachel a worried glance every few moments.

LeRoy was in the kitchen making coffee (and decaf tea for Rachel) so it was Hiram that headed to the front door when he heard it open and found Quinn stepping through.  He knew Quinn of course, Rachel had told him all about the head cheerleader and how the blonde, along with Santana, had tormented his daughter almost every day at school.  But he’s also aware that she’s Santana’s friend and has been a lot nicer to Rachel since the pregnancy.  And right now he really doesn’t want to cause more stress, so he decides to be polite.

“Quinn, now really isn’t a great time.  It would probably be best if you head home and come back tomorrow” He suggests as he tries to steer her back out of the door.

Quinn looks around a little confused noting Santana and Rachel still clinging together on the sofa and LeRoy, who had just returned from the kitchen, glancing at them worriedly.  She’s unsure what to say at this point and is considering heading over to Britt’s for the night and leaving them to whatever was going on, even though she’s been worried about the pair since lunch time, when Rachel speaks for the first time since she got home.

“It’s okay Daddy” she croaks, “She lives here now.”

Hiram looks back and forth between Rachel and Quinn in confession but at least stops trying to push Quinn out of the door, instead closing it behind her.  “What?”

Quinn shrugs, “Mom took Russell back” she says in explanation.

“And the first thing he did was give her that black eye.” Santana says, “And a huge bruise on her arm.”

Hiram’s confusion turns to horror, he could never understand or tolerate parents who would raise a hand to their own kids and he could see the evidence of just that right in front of him.  Quinn had obviously tried to hide the black eye with concealer but he could still see that it was discoloured and slightly swollen.

“So you left.”  It wasn’t really a question but Quinn nodded anyway.

“He would have thrown me out anyway whenever he found out that I’m…” Quinn pauses and swallows, “That I’m gay.”

Hiram tries mask his surprise but he can’t help it from registering on his features.  He glances over to Rachel who nods to confirm what Quinn has said was the truth.

“I see.  Well I think we need to have a chat Quinn, why don’t you come through to the kitchen with me and we’ll have some coffee.”

It wasn’t a request, that much was obvious to Quinn because he didn’t wait for a response before he turned and walked towards the kitchen, not checking to see if she followed.  She sighs and glances over to Rachel and Santana who just shrug before she turns and heads towards the kitchen.

“Look Mr Berry, I know I haven’t been the nicest to your daughter but I really do appreciate her and Santana giving me some place to stay when I needed it.  I haven’t been bullying her since pretty much the beginning of the year and I don’t intend to either here or at school, in fact I was a little worried when neither of them turned up today after their appointment.  I know that doesn’t make up for everything I’ve put her through, but I intend never to do or let that happen to her again.”  Quinn says.

Hiram chuckles, “How long have you been living here Quinn?  No, No.  That was a rhetorical question” he says, waving away her attempt to answer, “It’s just your rambling a lot like my daughter does.  But that wasn’t why I wanted to talk to you.”

Quinn doesn’t say anything, just flushing a little red but cocking her head to one side and waits for him to continue.

“Well, you obviously know that Rachel and Santana had a doctor’s appointment this morning.”

Quinn nods, “To check out Santana’s doctor for Rachel since her own one screwed up with the supplements and Santana doesn’t trust her with their children at the moment.”

“Well that may not be the only thing she screwed up.”  Hiram says

“Are the babies okay?” Quinn interrupts quickly and doesn’t like the flash of pain that crosses Hiram’s face.

“We… um, we don’t really know.”  Quinn gasps but Hiram continues, “Rachel is a carrier for a generic condition called Tay-Sachs.  It doesn’t affect her but she can pass it on to her children and if…” he pauses for a moment trying to remember if Quinn knew about Santana, “… the father…”

“I know about Santana.” Quinn interrupts causing Hiram to nod.

“If Santana is a carrier too, there’s a chance the babies could suffer from the disease.  It’s rarer in the general population than in the Jewish community, but it still happens.  Santana’s doctor asked her for a blood test today and it’s hit them both pretty hard.”

“And if the babies have the condition?” Quinn asks.

“Hiram!” Santana calls through from the living room.

Hiram’s head snaps round in the direction of Santana’s voice before he looks back at Quinn, “Best if you look it up, I should…” he trails off gesturing to the living room.

Quinn nods and he leaves her standing in the kitchen to cross back into the other room.  Rachel is still sitting on Santana’s lap on one sofa and Hiram crosses to join LeRoy on the other one.

“Did you two know about this?” Santana asks.  Her tone is genuine curiosity with just a touch of bitterness.

“We did.” Hiram says after a moment, “We knew we were both carriers which is why when we decided to have a child we demanded that any potential mothers be screened and found clear of the condition.  We had Rachel tested after she was born so we’d know and be able to prepare for this.”

“And yet you didn’t tell either of us.”

“I knew too” Rachel says her voice muffled slightly as her face was still buried against Santana’s neck, “I just forgot.” She paused for a moment then added “Or maybe I didn’t want to remember.”

“We all forgot.” Hiram says sadly, “Otherwise we would have discussed the possibility with you before it came to this.”

* * *

It was late as Rachel and Santana lay curled up together in bed.  Quinn had come into the living room short after Santana and the Berry men’s conversation looking even paler than usual but she hadn’t actually said anything, just sitting close to the other girls on the sofa.  Hiram and LeRoy had eventually left after making a vegan meal for them all and pretty much standing over Rachel until she had eaten something.

After a while Quinn had drifted off to her room and Santana and Rachel had decided to head to bed, going through their nightly routines totally automatically.  It was now two hours since they had climbed into bed but neither girl had been able to get even a moment’s sleep.

“I don’t think I can do it Santana.” Rachel whispers weakly.

“Do what babe?”

“Bring two babies into the world if they’re just going to suffer and …” she trails off with a sob, unable to complete the thought.

If Santana didn’t feel so terrible already she’s pretty sure that what Rachel was implying would have broken her heart.  But in all honestly, and though she’d never suggest it to Rachel, she had been thinking along the same lines.  What would be better for the babies, to be born to suffer or…

It wasn’t a decision a parent should ever have to even consider, never mind make.

“We can’t think that way, not yet Rach.”

“I can’t ignore it Santana.  It’ll just be even more painful later.”

“No, my test could still be negative and even if it’s not, the babies could still be okay.”  Santana says quietly yet firmly, “Rach I know you, if you even consider that right now you’ll never forgive yourself, even if the babies are perfectly healthy.  So let’s only consider the worst when we absolutely have to.  Okay?”

Rachel nods and silence falls again for a few minutes before she speaks again, “If necessary, we can always try again.”

“What?”

“I mean, they have to have some sort of screening method to pick healthy embryos, they do it for IVF after all.”  Rachel starts rambling.

“You’d be willing to get pregnant again?  Deliberately?”  Santana asks rather surprised, “With me?”

Rachel nods, “Yeah, I’ve gotten kind of used to the idea.”

“You mean after we’ve been to collage?”

Rachel shrugs, “I hadn’t thought about when.” She admits, “But if we could do it now because we have to, we could do it now because we want to.”

Santana can’t really believe what she’s hearing.  After everything they’ve already been through and may have to suffer in the near future, Rachel would still be willing to start all over again.  With her.  If her heart hadn’t been so heavy with the pain of what might be, it would have swelled with happiness but instead she settles for a small, slightly sad smile.

“Well, if you don’t mind I’m going to hope that there’s no need to get you pregnant again.” She places a small kiss on Rachel’s cheek, “At least not for a while.”

* * *

It wasn’t a hard choice for Santana and Rachel to skip school the next day.  Rachel’s Daddy even called in for them explaining the situation and while the principal was less than happy about the reasoning, a threat of a call to the ACLU and the involvement of various lawyers encouraged him to agree on the condition the pair kept up with their work. 

Rachel didn’t want to take any more time off than that though because whenever she had free time she found her mind drifting back to the threat to her babies.  However neither of the girls wanted to turn up at school on Wednesday only to be subjected to a barrage of questions from a (probably) well-meaning glee club.  That would just remind them of the test results they were waiting for and make the waiting quite a bit harder. 

So Quinn had been asked to help, to brief the Glee club and ask them to give the girls some space, which is why she now found herself in the choir room at lunch time on a Tuesday with most of the New Directions, including Mr Shue, looking at her and wondering what was going on.  Most of the Glee club because Santana and Rachel weren’t here obviously, but neither was Britt.

After sitting in her room for a while, Quinn had gone over to Britt’s place the previous night because she had wanted so badly to feel her girlfriend’s arms around her.  She had explained the situation to Britt and at first the blonde hadn’t understood but then she had cried just as hard as Quinn had wanted to do when she had heard the news, so hard in fact that her eyes were still red tinged the next morning when they got up for school.

“So I know you all know about Rachel and the babies.” Quinn begins to the room in general.

“But we don’t know who the father is” Kurt offers hopefully.

“And if Rachel and Santana want to tell you, that is their business.  I’m not going to betray their confidence by telling you.” Quinn snaps back at him.

“So you know who it is then?” Mercedes demands.

Oops, Quinn hadn’t meant to give that away.  She sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, “Yes, I know.  But that’s all I’m saying about it.  Like I said, if Santana and Rachel want you to know, they’ll tell you.”

“So why are we here?” Tina asks hoping to move things along so that she can spend some of lunch time with her own boyfriend, preferably alone.

Quinn had debated about the best way to address the issue and had come to the conclusion that there was no good way, so it would be easiest to just get it over with.  “Rachel is a known carrier of a genetic condition called Tay-Sachs and if the father is a carrier as well, it could mean… well, bad things for the babies.”

She takes a moment to survey the people sitting around her.  Most of them were just looking at her blankly or with confused expressions but Puck wasn’t looking at anyone because his head was now in his hands.  Quinn assumes he knows exactly what the disease means but she gives everyone else a quick but accurate overview of the condition, the odds that the babies might be affected and what it meant if they were.  In the end the looks of confusion have turned to a mix of horror and distress.

“Why are you telling us this?” Kurt asks.

“Because Santana and Rachel will be back at school tomorrow and right now they don’t want to be reminded of this every five minutes due to well-meaning or nosy questions from anyone who knows about the babies, which at the moment is just you lot.” Quinn answers, “In fact they’d prefer it if you acted like you didn’t know about the pregnancy at all and just got on with the week as normal.  That means no tears Tina and Mercedes” Quinn says to the two girls who had tears running down their cheeks, “And no nosy questions Kurt.  Just treat them both as you would before all this happened.  Do you think you can all do that for them for a few days?”

* * *

Rachel and Santana had arrived early on Wednesday since Santana had Cheerios practice before school and as soon as they stepped out of Santana’s car, Rachel found herself engulfed in a hug from Brittany.  The girl didn’t say anything, just holding Rachel tight for a moment then doing the same to Santana then running off into the school building to get ready for practice.

“Sorry.” Quinn says with a little shrug.

“Its okay” Rachel says, “It’s just Brittany being Brittany.”

Despite Santana’s objections that it was still too cold, Rachel went to sit on the bleachers to watch the Cheerios practice and for once wasn’t run off by Coach Sue who simply paused on her way to the field looking at the diva with an expression that Rachel would later swear looked a little sad before turning her attention to the Cheerios and apparently ignoring the fact Rachel was even there.

When it’s time for homeroom, they walk from their lockers to the classroom hand in hand, their fingers entwined, ignoring the looks and whispers this generates.  The other students were used to seeing them walking together but holding hands was new.  Also new was the kiss that Santana pressed against Rachel’s lips and the quick hug they shared whenever they separated at the door of a class they didn’t both have and when Santana collected the diva again at the end of the lesson.

They managed to survive the day which was about all they could say since neither of them had much of a clue about what went on in any of their classes.  They retreated to the auditorium at lunch time and during their free periods to be alone together and to avoid the worried looks they had been receiving from members of the Glee club and hugs from Brittany whenever they bumped in to the other girl.  But they managed to get all the way through the day without any sort of melt down and now all they had left was Glee club.

Rachel was sitting up on the back row with Santana on one side and Quinn and Brittany on the other.  They could feel the tension in the room even though everyone was doing their best to ignore it and carry on as normal, which was kind of hard when Rachel wasn’t offering advice and opinions all the time.  One of the gleeks would say something or sing something or Mr Shue would ask for a volunteer and everyone would wait for the inevitable offering from Rachel which never came.

About half way through the practice Santana’s mobile phone started ringing.  The Latina had muted everyone except one particular number, so after the initial surprised when the phone rang she was on her feet and out of the choir room within moments, the call answered before the door had even closed properly behind her.

“Maggie?” she asks.

“Hi Santana.  I have the results of your test for you.”  Maggie replies.

“Already?”

“Well, I don’t have the paperwork back yet but I pulled some strings and had them run the test as soon as physically possible and had them call me with a verbal report as soon as they had the results.”

“And?” Santana asks.

Rachel was gazing at the door that had just slammed shut behind Santana as she bolted from the classroom with her ringing phone.  She could guess who was on the other end of the phone call and she so wanted to step out into the corridor and find out the result herself, but she can’t make herself stand up and doesn’t even realize she’s shaking until Brittany sits down in Santana’s recently vacated chair and pulls the diva into her arms.

The rest of the room is silent too, at first surprised by the Latina’s hasty exit and then apparently understanding the significance of event.  No one moves, no one says anything and later Rachel would assert that no one even breathed because she couldn’t remember breathing herself.  And then the door bursts open again and a grinning Santana almost skips back into the room, heading straight to Rachel.

“It’s negative” she declares as soon as she steps into the room, “The test is negative, I’m not a carrier!  Our babies are going to be fine Rach, our babies are going to be fine!”

Santana pulls Rachel into a hug as soon as she gets within arm’s length, both girls sobbing with happiness and everyone could feel the tension that had moments ago filled the room dissipate.  Quinn and Britt were hugging Santana and Rachel, happily this time, and pretty much everyone participated in a sigh of relief.

 “Wait a minute” Kurt says, “ _Santana’s_ not a carrier?”


	21. Chapter 21

"Fuck."

The curse escapes Santana's lips as the full implication of Kurt's words burrows its way past her happiness and pokes at her brain just enough to get it to sit up and take notice. She says it so quietly that she barely hears her own voice but with her current position, arms around Rachel and chin resting on her shoulder, the diva hears it loud and clear and she responds by tightening her hold on the cheerleader.

"Tell them or not" Rachel whispers turning her head so her lips graze Santana's ear, "I'm okay with whatever you choose and I'll back you up if you need it."

She could pull it off, she could say that both she and the father had been tested at the same time and she had meant that both of them were in the clear. Kurt might buy that even as pedantic as he was and if the worst came to the worst and he questioned it she could just go all Lima Heights and scare the shit out of him.

As she pulls back from the hug with Rachel, the diva's hands slide down her arms until the grasp her own and squeeze them reassuringly and Santana can't help but gaze at the girl in front of her. The diva was smiling at her reassuringly and Santana was sure she would, as she had promised, back her up no matter what she told Kurt. Santana knew she wouldn't even blink or complain for a second afterwards since the singer knew how sensitive she was about her condition.

But as she gazed in to Rachel's eyes she saw something else, behind the love and reassurance was an unmistakeable spark of hope and in that moment she realizes what her choice really is. It's not just between keeping her secret or telling everyone, but also between letting Rachel know she's proud to be with her, to be having children with her or letting everyone else think that Rachel slept with some random guy who didn't care enough to stick around when she needed him. It's a choice between denying Rachel and their children to everyone in the room as well as to Rachel herself or accepting them publicly as her own.

Really it's not a choice; as far as Santana was concerned there was only one option.

Without looking away from Rachel or loosening her grip on the other girls hands, Santana speaks. "I am the babies' father."

Santana knew it was the right thing to do as soon as the words had spilled from her mouth because even with the gut wrenching fear now settling in her chest, the look of sheer happiness that that now graced Rachel's beautiful features made it all worthwhile. WMHS could go to hell, Rachel and the babies were the important things. She risked a glance at Brittany who was grinning widely at her and Quinn that was glaring at the rest of the Glee club as if daring them to have a problem with Santana's statement.

"The other parent."

Rachel's correction draw's Santana's attention back to the diva sitting before her and the look of love and pride that Rachel directs towards her gives her the strength to carry on. "Yeah, I'm the other parent" she turns for the first time since she had re-entered the choir room to glare at the rest of the Glee club, "And they only people that know about that apart from our parents and doctors are in this room right now. So if anything we discuss right now makes it out into the general population of this school, I will hunt every one of you down and ends you. Clear?"

Santana glances from person to person around the room and is a little surprised that instead of the hate or disgust or even just surprise she had been expecting, they wore expressions of curiosity, confusion or just plain boredom.

"We know you've claimed the babies as your own Santana. We understand so there's no need to remind us." Kurt says, "I'm just curious why you thought it was necessary to get tested as well and how your negative result has any effect on them."

Santana rolls her eyes. Of course they wouldn't get it, she'd have to spell it out word for word to them and she's pretty sure most of them still wouldn't believe it. She glances back at Rachel who has arranged her face into a blank expression but Santana easily recognizes the new tension in the diva's body. She has understood the situation just as well as Santana and grasped the fact that the Latina has the opportunity to back out of the whole discussion, to blow off her statement and meaningless and go with the status quo.

'She's scared' Santana thinks to herself, 'She's scared I'll run and hide and after the emotions she just showed me, she is trying to hide that fear from me.'

"No you don't understand." Santana says her gaze not leaving Rachel's, "I'm not just claiming them, they are mine. Biologically. I am the father. I am the one who got Rachel pregnant."

And there was that smile again. The smile that seemed to burn deep into her very soul, the smile that at least temporarily could wash away all her fears and doubts and make it possible not to care what other people thought of her or what why would whisper about her behind her back. So she tells them.

"I'm a girl. I always have been and I have always believed that I am. Double X chromosome and everything." Santana takes a steadying breath, "But I'm different. I have male reproductive organs. Fully developed and apparently fully functional." She adds with a smile towards Rachel.

She gives them the summary version of the doctor's latest chimera theory before continuing. "The babies are mine. Conceived when we were drunk, before we got together, before I understood what I felt for Rachel and before I knew I could even have children because up to that point I had been told I probably wouldn't be able to. I know that isn't an excuse, but I don't regret it for a second because it brought Rach and I together and she's giving me a gift I never thought I would have."

Now there are expressions of shock and surprise but no disgust. At least not yet, who knew what would happen when the surprise wore off.

"And I will remind you what I said before." Santana says pulling on her best bitchy attitude, "If anyone discusses this with anyone currently outside this room, if I so much as hear a whisper of a rumor about me, I will make every day of the rest of your school career hell. Do I make myself clear?"

Before anyone can answer, Quinn offers her own threat "And just in case anyone thinks that Santana might not be able to back that threat up if the news gets out, I will. And I promise you this, Santana might make your school career hell, but I'll make you wish you had never been born. Got it?" she demands.

Most people nod, even Mercedes, but Kurt is just gazing at Santana with an expression that seemed to indicate he was thinking hard.

"Nope" he says after a moment, "I don't believe it. The whole thing is just too farfetched" he says with a wave of his hand.

That got everyone's attention, surprised glances being shared between various couples in the group and with Mercedes actually leaning away from him as if to avoid the explosion she's pretty sure is about to be directed at Kurt.

"And why pray tell Lady Hummel" Santana asks through clenched teeth, "would I make something like that up?"

The boy seems unconcerned, "Maybe because you don't want us to find out who the actual father is."

"How can you even be serious right now?" Santana demands, "If that was the case, why the fuck would I make something like that up when we could just not tell you?!"

Kurt shrugs, "You have to admit it kind of hard to believe, so unless you have any proof…"

"What exactly do you expect me to do?" Santana interrupts, "Whip it out and show you? Because there's no fucking way _that's_ going to happen."

"And Santana doesn't have to prove anything anyway." Rachel says rising from the chair she's been sitting in to stand next to the Latina, "This is one of those occasions Kurt when your opinion really doesn't matter to either me, Santana, the babies or anyone else. So believe it or not, we really don't care."

Rachel links her arm though Santana's, "Now I think we can consider today's practice over so if you'll all be kind enough to excuse us, Santana and I have some celebrating to do."

Quinn watches as the two girls collect their belongings and walk out of the room with their heads held high before she turns on her heel and glares at Kurt, "Listen to me you idiot. I also don't care what you believe or don't believe, but the same applies to you as it does to everyone else. One word, one rumor and you'll be my first stop. Do you understand me?"

This time it is Quinn who turns and slides her arm into her girlfriends, "Come on babe, I think we should go celebrate too."

* * *

Santana barley makes it half way along the corridor before she pulls Rachel into a currently empty classroom, closing the door behind them and slumping against the door with a sigh of relief. Rachel can't help but giggle.

"That's twice."

"What?" Santana asks confused.

"That's twice you've said something that tells everyone nearby something we'd decided to keep quiet about."

Santana is suddenly watching Rachel very closely, "Are you upset with me?" she asks worriedly as she steps over to the other girl and links their hands together, "I really didn't mean to do it Rach and if you're angry or upset, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. But I was just so happy with the news I honestly didn't think…"

"It's okay San" Rachel interrupts as she pulls the Latina in for a hug, "Actually I'm proud of you. I know how scared you were, and yes" she says before Santana interrupts, "scared is the right word. I know how scared you were of the truth coming out and you've just told more people in one go than has known for all your life. And without running away."

"I'm still scared Rach. You know that tweedledum and tweedledee won't be able to keep their mouths shut no matter how much I threaten them or how much they believe me or not." Santana sighs again and hugs Rachel closer, "Everyone's going to know Rach, and what happens after that…"

"It'll be okay" Rachel assures her girlfriend, "I'll be here whatever happens and I'm sure Quinn and Britt will have your back too. Quinn looked really pissed off at Kurt earlier."

"I already couldn't have done it without you Rach." Santana encourages Rachel's chin up with a finger and leans down to press her lips against Rachel's for a moment, "When I looked in to your eyes I could see the hope in them and I knew how much it would hurt you and me if I denied the babies. It's one thing to not tell people if they don't ask, but to actively lie about it? I know you would have backed me up and would never have complained about it, but I couldn't do that." Santana reaches down with one hand and places it gently on the little bump in Rachel's stomach, "I thought about it and for a moment it would have been so easy. But I couldn't do that to them, I couldn't do that to me and most of all I couldn't do that to you."

Rachel returns Santana's kiss, "I love you so much right now San."

"I love you too Rach."

"Let's go home because your right, we should celebrate."

"And tell your Dad's" Santana reminds Rachel.

"And tell my Dad's."

And with that, Rachel takes Santana's hand and leads her out to her car.

* * *

"Dad? Daddy?"

They had parked at home and walked the few blocks to Rachel's old home. To be honest Rachel wasn't expecting her fathers to be home when she let Santana and herself into the house with the key she still kept. It was still really too early for them to be back from work yet even though she and Santana had been to Glee practice, but she called out anyway just in case they happened to be home for some reason. While there wasn't a car in the drive, the garage door was closed and locked and the alarm had set in perimeter mode, so someone could be home. It turned out they weren't.

Santana walks through to the living room and collapses onto a sofa. "So, what do we do while we're waiting for them?"

Rachel pretty much scampers over to the sofa, climbing up to straddle Santana's lap, sitting face to face with one leg on either side of the cheerleaders and her short skirt riding up enough to give Santana a view of her white cotton panties. "We could celebrate…" she suggests before bending down to press her lips against Santana's.

"Rach, I'm not about to do that here when your Dads could walk in any second."

Rachel continues pressing little kisses over Santana's face and neck, "They won't be home for ages yet."

"No Rach, not going to happen."

Rachel's hand slides under Santana's Cheerios skirt and gently cups the girl, "We could go upstairs. My old room will probably be exactly as I left it."

Santana's head lolls back onto the sofa and she closes her eyes but is unable to suppress the moan that escapes from her throat when Rachel squeezes her through her compression shorts, "Fuck Rachel!"

Which is exactly what she was about to do.

* * *

It had been a trying day at the office and right now all Hiram wanted to do was collapse onto the sofa for a while and unwind. Maybe a soak in the tub would be in order. It was his turn to make dinner but he really didn't feel like standing in front of the cooker for a while, LeRoy would be happy enough with take out this once. He closes the front door behind him while trying to remember if his husband had still been in the building when he'd left for work, because one of them had forgotten to turn on the burglar alarm.

Just as he steps into the living room he hears a thump from upstairs. He freezes and listens hard and just as he was about to write the whole thing off as his imagination he heard three more thumps in rapid succession. It sounded like it was coming from upstairs, so he visits the coat closet in the hallway and pulls out the wooden baseball bat they kept there for just these sorts of occasions and slowly climbs the stairs.

He pauses to listen again at the top of the stairs and is rewarded by a thump coming from the direction of the guest bedroom, which was odd since there wasn't much in there worth stealing. With on hand wielding the bat and the other on the door handle, he takes a steadying breath before quickly throwing the door open and stepping inside.

"Rachel!"

"Daddy!"

"Fuck!"

Hiram drops the bat almost automatically and clamps one hand over his eyes as his other searches for the door knob again, pulling the door closed behind him as he steps back out of the room.

Rachel and Santana had frozen when the door had been thrown open, their heads turned towards the noise it had made when it smacked against the wall behind it. Neither of them moves for a long moment as they stare at the door, then Rachel closes her eyes as Santana's drop to the baseball bat now lying on the floor.

"You know, this would never have happened if we'd used your room." She points out.

"There weren't any sheets on my bed." Rachel reminds the Latina.

"And you couldn't wait, yes I remember." Santana says with a grin.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rachel asks as Santana makes to climb off of her.

"Rach, your father just walked in on us." Santana says.

"I don't care. If you stop now not only will I be highly embarrassed, I'll be incredibly horny and you won't be getting any for a month."

"And if you are that horny honey" Santana says as she leans down to let her lips ghost over Rachel's ear, "Just how far through that month do you think you'd get before you were begging me to fuck you?"

But she doesn't stop and a few minutes later Rachel adds to her embarrassment by screaming Santana's name so loudly that it echo's throughout the house. At least she wasn't horny any more, for the moment at least.

* * *

"Are you okay Honey?" Rachel asks.

The girls are getting dressed after cleaning up and Santana is sitting on the edge of the bed in her spankies and sports bra turning her Cheerios top over in her hands and gazing at it with a blank expression. Rachel had been watching her, though the term leering might have been more appropriate, from where she had been standing as she had pulled on her clothes.

"Your Daddy just walked in and saw us having sex Rachel, how can I be okay?"

Rachel steps over and sits down next to Santana placing a reassuring hand on her knee. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asks.

"He saw me naked Rach, on top of you. He saw me defiling his only daughter!"

Rachel tries not to laugh since that would probably be taken the wrong way and instead settles for a little sigh. "Okay San, listen to me. Daddy already knew exactly what you do with me," she places her hand on the little bulge on her stomach, "This sort of gives it away. And it was Daddy that told me about my biological mothers cravings when she was pregnant with me, and I don't mean the food ones. He already knew we have had sex and probably assumed we still did, I mean we live together after all with no parental supervision, what teenagers wouldn't take advantage of that? So everything's going to be okay, nothing's going to change except probably you'll both be a little embarrassed around each other, but sooner or later everything will get back to normal."

"He saw me Rachel."

"Granted, I doubt any girl would be particularly happy with her girlfriend or boyfriend's father seeing her like that, but it's not really worth worrying about Santana."

"No Rach, you don't understand. He saw me… me!" Santana says gesturing towards a certain part of her body, "I've never shown that to anyone that didn't have to see it. Never!"

Suddenly Rachel understands what's worrying her girlfriend. "You have San, you showed me remember?" Santana blushes and Rachel smiles at her reaction, "And yes we might have been a little drunk at that point, or a lot drunk, but you showed me and I gave you my honest reaction at that point in time. Do you remember what I said?"

"You said I was beautiful." Santana answers after a moment.

"I told you that then and I'll tell you that now and I'll tell you that every day for the rest of our lives if it takes that for you to believe it. You are beautiful Santana, every inch of you and yes, that includes your penis. You're perfect for me as you are. You're beautiful as you are. And I don't want you to ever doubt that. If someone sees you and doesn't like what they see, that's their problem not yours."

Rachel watches Santana's reaction and can tell the other girl isn't totally convinced yet, "Look at me Santana, do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course you are Baby." Santana's response was instant.

"Do you think everyone thinks I'm beautiful? And be honest."

"Well their stupid if they don't." Santana says

"But they don't, very few people do and I've accepted that."

"That's not true!"

"It is San, trust me. Oh a lot of people might think I'm attractive or that I look good on a stage, but that's different. And I'm pretty sure there are people out there that would take one look at me and hate what they see, whether it's the color of my hair or the shape of my face or whatever. But their opinion doesn't matter to me, there's only one person whose opinion is important to me and I know exactly how she feels. So remember that whenever someone looks at you and might not find you attractive that there are always going to be people like that even if you were a super model. What matters is what people who love you and who you love think and I know you're beautiful."

Santana smiles and Rachel leans over to kiss her, "You shouldn't be ashamed of your body Santana. I'm not saying walk around naked to show it off or anything, but if someone happens to see you or if you want to wear a bikini or a tight dress and someone has a problem with it? Well, it's their problem, not yours. And if they treat you any different then they're not worth knowing."

"And anyway Daddy wouldn't have seen it anyway." She adds with certainty.

"How do you know?"

"Because this" Rachel slides her hand down between the cheerleader's legs to squeeze her through her spankies, "was deep inside me when the door opened, filling and stretching me like only you have ever done. So all he saw when he opened the door was your body pressed against mine. He might have seen a little bit of ass or breast, but I can assure you he's not interested in that, especially when they belong to his daughter's girlfriend."

"He wouldn't have seen anything?"

"No Honey, he wouldn't have seen anything." Rachel assures her girlfriend, "Now are you ready to go downstairs?"

Santana doesn't answer immediately, but when she does she asks "Quinn and Britt have sometimes asked if they could see it. Do you think I should show them?"

Rachel smiles back at her girlfriend, if Santana's even considering letting her best friends see her it's a step forward in accepting herself for who she is.

"That's really your decision Baby."

"Would it bother you if I did?"

"Let me ask you this, are you interested in them? Sexually I mean."

Santana shakes her head, "They've always been there for me when I had no one else. I love them like sisters and I know they feel the same way about me though we'd probably never admit it to each other, but I'm not attracted to them like that. Their just curious I guess and I suppose most people would be, but they've never pushed too hard and they've always respected it when I said no."

"In that case, no, it wouldn't bother me. But I'd want to be there if you decide to do it."

Santana nods and once she finishes getting dressed, they head downstairs to see Rachel's fathers.

* * *

Once they had cleaned up and dressed, the girls descended the stairs to find out, in Rachel's works, how sever a cardiac event her father had had. They found him on one of the sofas in the living room with his head in his hands and LeRoy standing watching him in confusion. Hiram didn't look up as they walked in.

"Hi Honey, Santana" LeRoy says as he walks over and gives first Rachel and then Santana a hug, "Just what exactly have you don't to break your father Rachel? All I can get out of him is 'I shouldn't have seen that'"

Santana can feel her face heating up, but apparently Rachel has no problem telling her father, "He walked in on us in coitus I'm afraid." She says with a small frown, "It was probably a bit of a surprise for him."

"That's an understatement." Hiram says without raising his head from his hands, "Rachel baby, not that we aren't glad to see you, but exactly what were you doing in the guest bedroom?"

Rachel's eyebrows shot up, "Having sex Daddy. I mean I know it's different between two girls and two men, but I would have thought you would have recognized that."

Hiram makes a rather strangled noise and LeRoy chuckles, "I think he got that Rachel, but I think his point was why you were in the house at all. I'm pretty sure I remember you moving out…"

"Oh we have news!" Rachel declares before turning to Santana, "Do you want to tell them baby?"

Santana had been wishing the ground would open up and swallow her up until this point, so she's happy with the change of subject and nods, "I got a call from the doctor today with my test results. I'm negative, I'm not a carrier so our babies are going to be fine." She says with a grin.

Apparently Hiram has forgotten the events of the guest bedroom because he and LeRoy are both suddenly hugging the girls in an impromptu four way hug.

"Dad, Daddy, I really need to breath now." Rachel says after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry honey" Hiram says as he wipes away a few tears that had collected at the corner of his eyes, "It's just such wonderful news. Our grand babies are going to be healthy!"

"How about we go out for dinner to celebrate?" LeRoy suggests.


	22. Chapter 22

For the first time she could remember, Santana couldn't sleep. She had climbed into bed with Rachel when the diva had expressed her need for sleep and held her until she had dozed off. Usually the other girl's soft snoring (though Rachel would never admit she snored at all) would sooth the cheerleader to sleep pretty quickly on the nights where sleep didn't come easily. But tonight, even with the diva comfortingly curled into her side, sleep was evading her and instead she spends the night staring sightlessly into the dark at an unseen point on the ceiling.

In what Santana figures is the early hours of the morning she starts to feel antsy. A quick check of the bedside clock shows it's just after five am and even with the presence of Rachel next to her, she knows she's going to start getting fidgety soon. There's only so long that she can just lie in bed and the last thing she wants to do is wake up her girlfriend with her fidgeting. So she slowly disentangles herself from the diva's embrace and smiles at the whimper of distress that this causes Rachel to produce.

Santana watches as the other girls hand reaches out, pawing randomly at the bed as if searching for the Latina's body. She picks up her pillow, slipping it under Rachel's searching hand and the diva pulls it into an embrace and taking a deep breath of Santana's scent. She pulls up the sheets and comforter, making sure Rachel will remain nice and warm with her body heat next to her, and wraps a fluffy white robe around her otherwise naked body before heading downstairs.

Blue flickering light and a boys voice greets her from the living room and Santana is surprised to find Quinn sitting on one of the sofa's wrapped in a blanket and watching something on the television with the sound turned down low. Santana makes sure she makes enough noise that she isn't sneaking up on the blonde and Quinn's head turns her way for a moment.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Santana asks.

Quinn just shakes her head as Santana drops down onto the sofa next to her.

"Want to talk about it?"

There's a pause this time before Quinn shakes her head, "Not yet" is all she says.

Quinn is a lot like Santana in some ways, she finds it hard to talk about certain things like feelings as well. Though Santana has to admit she's gotten better at that since she got together with Rachel. But one thing the Latina does know is that pushing Quinn to talk when she's not ready generally doesn't end well and Santana doesn't want the fallout from that hanging around their home. When Quinn wants to talk she'll seek someone out and if she doesn't, Santana will have a word with Britt, the only person who can actually get away with getting Quinn to talk when she doesn't want to.

Santana nods, "Whenever you want Q, I'm here for you, we're here for you."

Quinn nods this time, then after a pause asks "And you? Worried about tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I just don't trust Porcelain and Wheezy not to open their mouths and yap and God knows what will happen then." Santana shakes her head sadly, her eyes still focused on the television, "I can imagine what will happen. Pointing fingers, whispering behind hands, name calling, getting kicked off the Cheerios and multiple slushie facials. And that's best case scenario, I'll be lucky if I don't get beaten up by the Cheerios or some of the jocks."

"Hey, the Cheerios won't lay a finger on you no matter what. I've got your back San, you and Rachel both. Whatever happens. Okay?" Quinn tries to reassure Santana.

The Latina just shrugs and changes the subject, "What are we watching?"

There's a boy on the screen wearing a gas mask apparently trying to get through a door that's being help closed by a man in clothing that didn't appear to be congruent with the scene. The buzzing lit wand type thing he was waving at the lock definitely looked out of place.

"Something called Doctor Who." Quinn supplies, "It's a British sci-fi show."

"Are you my mummy?" floats from the speakers in the boy's voice.

"Why is that kid wearing a gas mask?"

Quinn shrugs, "Its set in world war 2 I think."

"And this is supposed to be sci-fi?"

"The guy in the leather jacket is a time traveler apparently."

* * *

Rachel woke before her alarm went off. It had become something of a habit so she could spend some time enjoying being held in Santana's arms before they both had to get up and get ready for school. But today there are no arms around her and the bed seems cooler than when she wakes to the hot blooded Latina, and why was she hugging what felt like a pillow. An out thrown hand confirms not only the lack of Santana in her bed, but the coolness of the sheets meaning she hasn't been there for a while.

Rachel sits up, starting the day with a pout on her lips, and rubs her eyes with the palms of her hands before looking around the room as if expecting to discover Santana sitting there. The door to the en-suite is open and the room beyond is silent making Rachel draw the conclusion that Santana must have headed elsewhere some time ago.

Running a hand through her hair, she yawns before turning off her alarm and heading to the shower. She emerges some time later in a blast of steam and a fluffy white robe, hair still damp with water beading on her forehead, and glances around as if expecting her girlfriend to have suddenly appears. Which she did expect. And which didn't happen.

She found them downstairs in the living room still sitting next to each other, both still wrapped in their robes and covered with a couple of blankets. At some point both Quinn and Santana had dozed off and ended up leaning on each other to remain upright, Santana's head on Quinn's shoulder, Quinn's head resting on Santana's and the fingers of Santana's right hand laced through Quinn's left. They looked so cute and peaceful that Rachel goes back upstairs and retrieves her mobile phone to take a picture which she then sends to Brittany.

She climbs on to the sofa next on Santana's free side, sighing as she relaxes against the other girl's side and pulls the free end of the blanket over her body. She rests her head on the Latina's shoulder and pulls her free hand into her lap, lacing her own fingers through Santana's, and just sits there for a while enjoying the body heat and companionship.

She almost joins them in sleep but the clock in the corner of the television screen reminds her that they have to get up for school soon so she gives the girl next to her a small shake.

"Santana, it's time to wake up."

There's a mumbling and a little movement from the girl but it's apparent she's not about to take up, so Rachel supplies a stronger shake and calls to her slightly louder.

"Santana!"

Arms seem to reach out of their own accord and latch around Rachel's waist. The next thing she knows she's sitting on Santana's lap, one knee on either side of the Latina's legs and Santana's head resting on her shoulder. The sudden lack of support under her head causes Quinn to wake and she blinks the sleep away in time to see Rachel's arms closing around Santana's neck.

"Well that's my cue to go upstairs before you two start having sex on the sofa." She says through a yawn.

"We're not going to have sex on the sofa" Rachel says.

She's surprised when Santana's arms close tighter around her waist pulling her body closer to the Latina's until she can feel Santana's cock stirring and pressing into her. Rachel can't help the moan that escapes her lips.

"Well I think sex on the sofa is a great idea." Mumbles a now semi-awake Santana.

Quinn may have left or she may still be sitting under the blanket on the sofa, Rachel really has no idea because all the can concentrate on is Santana's body pressed against hers, the Latina's scent filling her nose as her face is buried in the other girls neck, and a certain piece of anatomy slowly swelling and hardening and pressing against her between her legs.

"San, we can't. Anyone could come in." Rachel complains even as her hips involuntarily buck as she seeks more contact between herself and Santana.

"The doors are all locked and I'm pretty sure Q will be hiding in her room until we tell her it is safe." She pauses to press her lips against Rachel's and to slide her hands up under the diva's robe until she has two hands full of Rachel's ass, causing the girl to moan into her mouth, "The only one coming in will be me when I come in you."

Rachel rolls her eyes at Santana's statement, but she also rolls her hips against Santana and then the next moment she's pushing herself up, frantically pulling the blankets from between them and then sliding her hand into Santana's robe until her fingers close around the other girls hardening cock. Santana groans and her eyes roll back as Rachel pumps her small hand up and down the cheerleader's shaft a few times before positioning and lowering herself on to it in one smooth movement.

It doesn't take long before the two girls are expressing their pleasure rather loudly, which is about the same time that Quinn starts looking for her iPod.

* * *

Santana was nervous as she drove to school that day, but she had been able to keep herself under control enough to make sure all three of them arrived safely and without incident. Three because Quinn had climbed in to the back seat of the car almost as soon as Santana had unlocked it and had just shrugged when the Latina had raised an eyebrow at her. Given Brittany's car was unusually sitting in her reserved parking spot, Santana figures the two blondes must have known in advance that Quinn would be riding with Santana and Rachel that day.

But she pushes that thought to the back of her mind, something to be examined later, and eyes the students that are hanging around or walking through the parking lot. As far as she can tell, none of them are paying her any more attention than they normally would and she decides that has to be a good thing, if rumors were abound people would at least be shooting her sly looks when they thought she wasn't looking and she was always looking.

A knock on her window causes her to jump and she looks up to see Rachel standing next to the door. Santana hadn't even realized the other two girls had climbed out and here she was still sitting with her seat belt fastened and her hands around the steering wheel as if she were still driving. She takes another look around as she unhooks her seat belt then climbs out of the car.

"Are you okay Honey?" Rachel asks as she takes Santana's arm.

"Just a little nervous." Santana tries to smile reassuringly at Rachel but the end result was anything but reassuring.

"Here comes Britt." Quinn says, nodding towards the other blonde from her spot just in front of the parked car.

Many people underestimated Brittany on a daily basis. They see the bubbly blonde and hear the wild stories she comes up with and the odd answers she sometimes comes up with in class and write her off as stupid. The smart one's don't say that too her face though and the dumb ones usually learn from that mistake very quickly. And while it's true that Britt may not be book smart, though she does have a decent GPA thanks to the help both Quinn and Santana have given her, she is people smart.

So at times Britt is the eyes and ears of the Unholy Trinity. When there's a rumor or gossip that no one would want Santana or Quinn to know about, Britt can track it down and extract it from even the most reticent of sharers.

No one can resist that pout.

And just seeing Britt bounce towards them, smile wide and natural as ever, allows Santana to relax a little. Most people would be surprised at just how good the dancer is at hiding her feelings but both Santana and Quinn know the girl so well that they can read her like an open book, the way her shoulders slump when she's sad or tense when she's angry, the slight narrowing of her eyes or the sudden control in her movements, they are all glaring indicators to the others of her feelings.

And it seems that Britt is aware of Santana's nerves because as soon as she arrives, before even giving her customary hug and stolen kiss to Quinn, she turns to Santana and says "I haven't heard anything."

"It won't last." Santana opines looking around suspiciously.

"Do you think maybe they realize this isn't something they should gossip about?" Rachel says then glances around before adding "I mean, there hasn't been any gossip about the babies either."

"Um…" says Britt, looking down at her feet at she attempts to dig her sneaker toe into the unyielding surface of the parking lot.

Santana's stance stiffens almost immediately, "What is it Britt?" she asks and even though she tries to keep her voice calm, even she can hear the wariness in her tone.

"There is a rumor about that" Britt says but rushes to add "Only a few people believe it and everyone is too scared of Santana to say anything directly to either of you."

Rachel immediately puts her hand on Santana's arm in an attempt to calm her, "We knew we wouldn't be able to hide it forever San" she says, her hand moving to her stomach as she looks down, "It'll be evident soon anyway without the rumors. Let's just ignore them."

"What are they saying?" Santana asks Britt.

"Just that she's pregnant and no one knows for sure who the father is. I've heard rumors saying its Finn or Puck or a random jock and one even claiming its Jacob Ben Israel, though I think he started that one himself and no one really believes it."

"Eww…" is Rachel's instant response to the last rumor, "If I didn't already have morning sickness that would make me want to throw up."

Santana huffs, "The smart money should be on Puck. Finn would be lucky to get his pants off before he's done for the night."

"Santana!" Rachel exclaims.

"What? It's true after all. You've told me that yourself."

"We don't talk about that in polite company!"

"Wait… You can't talk about the Finn's failings that we all know about in front of me, but you can start having sex in the same room I'm in? How does that work?" Quinn asks genuinely confused.

Rachel just huffs and walks off, dragging an amused Santana with her. Quinn and Brittany follow as soon as they are able to stop laughing.

Santana's eyes never stopped scanning back and forth as they four girls walked across the lot to the school buildings. They ended up in the reverse of their normal formation with Rachel and Santana leading the way and Quinn and Britt following, but as far as Santana could see no one was giving them anything other than the normal attention. That didn't stop the tension building in her body as they approached the main doors and Rachel must have felt it as the diva gives her hand a squeeze as they step into the building.

Santana suddenly stops just as the doors bang shut behind Quinn and Britt, her eyes trained on two jocks heading towards them. They seem to be walking with purpose and directly towards Santana, even though they aren't looking at her, and each holds a full big gulp slushy cup in their hands. Rachel must have seen them too since she tries to step in front of Santana's body, but the Latina wouldn't let Rachel take a slushy for her under normal circumstances and she definitely isn't going to let her take two when she's pregnant.

So before the diva can even finish stepping in front of her, Santana has pulled her back and pushed her safely between herself and Quinn and Britt behind them. Then she braces herself and waits. And waits. And waits.

"San?" Rachel asks quietly.

She opens eyes she hadn't even realized she had closed and glances about before releasing a sigh of relief. No jocks and no slushies were in evidence. The pair had apparently walked right past them without a second though and had headed out to the quad, no doubt to find a suitable target for their slushies amongst the students that hadn't yet made it into the building.

Santana turns to Rachel, "Rach, don't ever attempt to take a slushy for me again. I appreciate the sentiment but you have two babies to take care of now and I hate to think what the shock to your system might cause. I will not have you risking our children just to protect me from something I've done to you so many times. Understand?"

Rachel dips her head and nods but Santana slides a finger under her chin making her look up again, "Thank you" she says before pressing her lips against the diva's for a moment. When she pulls away Rachel is blushing vividly.

Santana can't help but scowl when they find Kurt and Mercedes waiting for them at her locker. She couldn't think of any person she wanted to see less right now except maybe Jewfro with his damn camera and microphone trying to "confirm a rumor" or some other such bullshit. Ignoring them isn't going to work however, unless she wants to actually push Kurt from where he's leaning against her locker door, so she opts for bitch mode instead.

"Move." She demands.

And it works because he almost instantly pushes himself up off of the locker and takes a step back while exchanging a glance at Mercedes. Good, now she can just ignore them.

"Look Santana, we know you must be concerned about…" Kurt begins.

He doesn't get a chance to finishes before Santana slams him back into the wall of lockers, "Pick your next words very carefully Porcelain or you are going to have the pleasure of meeting Snixx up close and personal."

"… what you told us in Glee yesterday" he manages to squeak and takes a breath of relief when Santana releases him, "But we just wanted to assure you that we aren't going to talk about it with anyone."

"Your confidence is safe with us." Mercedes offers with what Santana assumes is supposed to be a reassuring smile.

Santana rolls her eyes and turns back to her locker, sorting through the books she'll need for the day. When she's done and turns away from the locker she's surprised to find both of them still standing there with expectant expressions on their faces. It doesn't take long for her to understand what they are expecting though.

"Do you really expect me to thank you for promising not to gossip about me? Seriously?" she demands, "Well allow me to let you in on a little secret, normal people don't gossip like a pair of old maids about whatever juicy piece of information falls into their laps. Normal people know when to keep their mouths shut. Normal people don't have to make promises to keep their mouths shut because everyone knows they will do that anyway. And normal people don't expect fatuous praise or gratitude when they do something normal."

A passing Cheerio picks this moment to interrupt, "Santana, coach wants to see you in her office ASAP."

Santana just nods and waits for the Cheerio to go before continuing, "So no, don't expect me to thank you for your promise to keep my 'confidence'. But remember this; you can expect me to make your life hell should a single rumor about me surface. You two are the biggest gossips in this school and will be my first stop on the road to revenge if I need to take it. So as well as keeping your own mouths shut, it's in your own interest to make sure everyone else does as well. Do you understand me?"

* * *

She had been so pissed off at Wheezy and Porcelain that she didn't even consider what the Coach wanted until she was sitting in her office waiting for her to finish whatever paperwork had caught the Coach's interest, probably another plan to end the Glee club if Santana had to guess. The Latina had assumed that this was going to be standard Cheerios business, but in that case she would have expected Quinn to be present which she wasn't.

Well she was, sort of. A few minutes after Santana had arrived and been directed to sit and wait by Sue, Quinn, Britt and Rachel had arrived in the corridor outside the office each wearing worried expressions. It didn't take Santana long to work out why they were worried, obviously they thought the coach had heard something and was preparing to take action and Santana couldn't disagree with them. But there also wasn't anything she could do right now except wait and see what happens.

"Well, now the audience is in the peanut gallery, I guess we can begin." Sue says with no indication of ever having looked in the direction of the girls waiting nervously outside in the corridor. "I expect you know why I have called you here today?"

Santana glances out at the three girls in the corridor and can't help but shift a little in her seat, "Not exactly Coach."

"Don't play me Sandbags." Sue says, "I am a better player than you will ever hope to be. But fine I'll tell you what I know." She starts ticking off the points on her fingers, "I know Streisand is pregnant. I know you have been glued to her side whenever you can be for the last month or so. I know you had Q put her on the list. And I know you two are living together." She pauses before adding "Nice work on the nursery by the way, if I didn't already have it I'd ask for the name of your interior designer." Santana doesn't smile, "So most people would be thinking you just have a thing for pregnant girls, a little fetish that Streisand happens to tick the box for. But you and I know differently, don't we?"

"I don't know what you mean." Santana says trying not to act like she's as nervous as she actually is.

Sue leans forward, "I know your secret Santana. I know what you're hiding in your spankies. Do you really want me to say it out loud?" Santana shakes her head once and Sue leans back, "I didn't think so. You got careless Santana, you got careless and you got a girl knocked up. And of all the girls to pick from in this school, you had to impregnate the diva from Glee club. I'd ask 'why her?' but I really can't be bothered to care."

Sue rises from her chair and crosses to stand in front of the office window that looked out over the school grounds, "I have to say I'm disappointed Santana. We all know teenagers have sex, but I thought I had drilled the need to be safe into my Cheerios after Q's little scare last year." Sue turns and glares at Santana, "But the need to be safe is a two way street, just in case you hadn't worked that out, which apparently you haven't. The only redeeming factors for you are that you've stepped up and took responsibility, which is more than I would be able to say for most boys in this school, and you didn't get Q or Brittany knocked up because we both know what they were willing to do for you."

Santana can't stop her surprised expression. She was pretty sure that no one apart from the three of them knew about Quinn and Britt's plan.

Sue crosses and sits down behind her desk again, "So no doubt you're expecting this to be the point where I kick you off of the Cheerios right? Where I make you strip off your uniform and walk out of here naked."

A look of panic flashes across Santana's face before she regains control, but Sue had obviously seen it because she smirks. "It seems you girlfriend thinks the same way since she appears to be carrying a very large towel. But I wonder if you remember what I told Q when she thought she had to tell me she was gay?"

It took Santana a moment and then she answered "Um, you know your Cheerios?"

Sue nods, "I know my Cheerios, I know all about them, and I know about you. Do you really think you could keep something like that hidden from me? I've known from the first time you showed up at practice and if I didn't want you in the squad because of an anatomical anomaly, you wouldn't have been in the squad at all. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Coach."

"Get out of here."

Santana jumps to her feet and makes for the door but just as her hand reaches the handle she's stopped by Sue's voice, "Santana, Rachel Berry belongs to you. Make sure the squad knows that."

"Yes Coach."

When the door closes behind her, Santana is immediately surrounded by her three best friends each asking what happened, and a takes a moment for Santana to wave them into silence.

"She says she already knew and if she hadn't wanted me on the squad because of that, I would never have been on the squad at all." Santana supplies.

"That's good isn't it?" Rachel asks, "She's not kicking you off the squad?"

"I'm still on the squad" Santana confirms before looking at Quinn, "And the Coach said to let the squad know that Rachel belongs to me."

There's a noise of surprise from both Quinn and Britt but Rachel seems rather annoyed, "I do not belong to anyone!" she declares, "If I choose to be with someone I will be, no one owns me. I have a good mind to go in there and…"

"No Rach, you don't understand, it's the rules." Santana explains.

Rachel huffs, standing tapping one foot with her hands on her hips, "You have ten seconds to explain."

Quinn beats Santana to it, "Before we even came to High School the Cheerios split into two factions, it started with some of them playing a prank on the others cars but it escalated quickly until it was pretty much an all-out war between the two groups. Coach had to put her foot down and ended up kicking about half the girls off the squad, they didn't even qualify for regionals that year."

"And that's where the rules came from. Coach doesn't want to risk losing a title again because of infighting so everyone has to follow the rules." Santana finishes.

"And how does that mean I belong to you?" Rachel demands.

"The third rule is 'What belongs to one is protected by all.'" Santana supplies, "Coach isn't saying you actually belong to me, she's extending the protection of all the Cheerios to you."


	23. Chapter 23

It's Friday night and Santana is sitting at home in the living room watching television and waiting for her girlfriend to get home. It's a little pathetic.

Granted before Rachel (or BR as Santana had started calling it in her head) she'd probably be in her room watching TV and trying to ignore Q and Britt making out on her bed before they went out to some party or something. Or she'd be in Quinn's room watching TV and trying to ignore Q and Britt making out on Q's bed. Or she'd be in Britt's room… etc.

But it was still only afternoon and once Rachel got home from her singing class they were planning to head out to Breadstix to eat before catching a movie. With Quinn and Britt. Double dates had never been high on Santana or Quinn's list of favorite things to do, especially when it involved the each other, but when Rachel and Britt had aimed those damn pouts at their respective other half's there wasn't much they could do but agree.

And at least she doesn't have to pretend to ignore Q and Britt making out (because honestly who'd ignore two rather attractive blondes making out right in front of you) since Britt had to head home for a little while after Glee for some undefined family related reason. Which explains why Quinn is now very slowly descending the stairs after changing out of her uniform and with her nose stuck on one of her many books.

The blonde crosses to the sofa and makes to sit down next to Santana, but before ass meets cushion she's suddenly fully upright again and turns to scowl first at the sofa and then at Santana before she crosses the room to lower herself onto the other sofa. Santana is a little confused about this.

"What the hell was that?"

Quinn glares at Santana over the top of her books, "I'm not sitting on sofa again until you've had it thoroughly cleaned."

"Oh, okay." Santana returns her attention to the TV allowing Quinn to settle into her seat, "Well, on reflection you probably don't want to sit on that sofa either then."

"What?!"

Even though Santana was watching she would swear that Quinn want from sitting to standing without moving through any stages in between. The Latina can't help but chuckle as Quinn glares at her again and stalks over to the only other comfortable seat in the living room, an armchair that sits in the opposite corner of the square described by the two sofas.

"Or there." Santana says just as Quinn is about to sit down.

The blonde mumbles something that sounds to Santana like a curse, "I'm going to wait in my room." She declares before crossing to the bottom of the stairs where she pauses. "Please tell me the pair of you have not had sex in my bed." She calls back through to Santana.

"Nope" Santana calls back, pause for a beat to hear Quinn's sigh of relief before adding "Not since you moved in anyway."

Rachel returns approximately forty five minutes later and, after greeting Santana with a kiss, heads upstairs to shower and change before they all head out to dinner. Quinn opens the door to her room just as Rachel reaches the top of the stairs.

"Will you please keep your girlfriend under control?!" Quinn demands.

"Good afternoon to you too Quinn, but I have no idea what you are talking about."

"This morning." Quinn hisses, "Apparently there isn't a single seat in the living room I can safely sit on anymore! And my bed too?!"

Rachel nods in understanding. "Well, at least we haven't used your bed since you moved in" she points out, "But if you're worried about the living room, I'll make sure Santana has everything professionally cleaned." Rachel pauses until Quinn nods apparently in relief before adding, "And the kitchen."

"THE KITCHEN?"

"Well, the fridge was a little cold to be pushed up against and the worktop by the sink was too high. And don't get me started on the table" she pauses as if in thought, "No, the only way that would work is if we got it bolted down…"

Quinn huffs and turns on her heel, slamming her bedroom door behind her. Rachel waits for a moment before knocking on the door.

"Quinn?"

The door pops open after a moment and Quinn sticks her head out, "What?"

"I just wanted to assure you that we haven't used your shower since you moved in either."

Rachel's pretty sure she hears a shout of frustration after the door is slammed shut and heads to her shower wearing a grin.

About an hour later Santana and Britt are sitting in the living room while Quinn stands next to the other sofa refusing to sit down as they wait for Rachel to finish getting ready. The diva can feel the tension as soon as she steps into the living room and eyes Quinn wearily.

"What's the problem?" she asks no one in particular.

"You know perfectly well" Quinn huffs.

Rachel grins and shakes her head, "Is that still bothering you?"

"How would you feel if I let Britt ravish me on one of Santana's sofas?" Quinn demands.

Quinn might very quickly regret that question, or not as the case may be, because all three girls respond immediately. Britt turns to stare at Quinn and seems to be making a predatory growling noise in the back of her throat.

Santana shrugs, "Been there, seen that." She says disinterestedly.

"Go for it." Rachel says with a smirk.

Which Britt apparently takes as an invitation because the next moment she has propelled Quinn over the arm of the sofa the head cheerleader was standing next to and is enthusiastically kissing her. Quinn's "Britt, stop!" is lost in a sloppy kiss and moments later the head cheerio moans loudly when Britt's lips close over the pulse point in her neck.

Rachel and Santana decide to take Britt's hand sliding up between Quinn's legs without any objection from the blonde as a sign they should probably give the pair a little privacy. Or rather Rachel takes it as a sign, Santana was more than willing to stay and watch but wisely decides not to disagree with her girlfriend. So they head upstairs and turn on the sound system in their bedroom.

After Quinn had what must have been one amazing orgasm given the very vocal accompaniment that left both Rachel and Santana speechless, Rachel turns to her girlfriend and asks "Do you think we are that loud?"

"There's no thinking about it Babe, I know you are." Santana supplies with a smirk which receives a huff and foot stomp from the diva.

Quiet descends for a while except for feet climbing the stairs and then the far off sound of a shower. Sometime after that there is a knock on the bedroom door and Britt sticks her head into the room when invited.

"Quinn had to take a shower and change, but we're ready to go now." She says.

"Shower and change?" Santana asks with an eyebrow raised.

Britt shrugs, "She tends to squirt when she gets really excited. She must have thought you two were still watching."

They all hear an indignant "Brittany Susan Pierce!" from Quinn who is apparently downstairs.

Britt rolls her eyes, "Oh-oh, looks like I'm in trouble" the blonde sing-songs. "She'll probably want to spank me later" she adds with a wink.

"Brittany!"

When they all assemble downstairs to head out the too the car, Quinn is wearing her best poker face. Her cheeks are tinged a little red but she meets any gaze that is directed her way with an expression clearly says don't fuck with me, which is ironic when you think about it.

Just as Santana is about to open the front door she pauses. "Britt, did you remember to wash your hands?"

Britt skips off towards the bathroom while Quinn turns bright red and isn't meeting anyone's gaze any more. It probably doesn't help when Santana suggests that Quinn should pay half the cleaning bill for the sofas.

* * *

The drive to Breadstix was short and when they arrived they still had plenty of time to grab something to eat before they had to be at the cinema for the start of the movie. It wouldn't be the relaxing multi course meal that Santana had originally planned, but at least she wouldn't miss those addictive bread sticks that the restaurant supplied for free.

They picked a booth in the rear corner of the room, mainly because it was the best one free at that particular point but also because it was set a little away from the other booths with only one booth neighboring it which gave them a little more privacy than any other option currently available and as much as the two couples were happy to be seen out and about together, this was still Lima after all and it was sadly still a pretty good idea to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves if they could avoid it.

Santana let Rachel slide into the booth first then joined her moments later, allowing them to sit hand in hand and still have their dominant hands free to eat with, sometimes Santana appreciated being left handed though she was, with practice, becoming rather ambidextrous when it came to certain activities.

Quinn and Britt had a little disagreement about who would enter their side of the booth first, but eventually Britt won (who could resist that pout after all) and Quinn ended up sitting opposite Rachel. Within moments of them being seated, a rather nervous looking server arrived with menus and extra containers of bread sticks which she almost drops into Santana's lap when the Latina glares at her. Rachel squeezes her hand and whispers for Santana to behave.

"That's you told" Quinn says from across the table obviously having discerned the content of Rachel's whispers.

"Fuck you Fabray."

"You had your chance Lopez." Quinn says with a smug grin.

Neither Santana nor Quinn were exactly excited with the idea of going out on a double date, but when Britt and Rachel got an idea in their heads and then teamed up with their pouts, the end result was pretty much inevitable and Santana was just hoping that they never came up with an idea that would be horribly embarrassing.

And yet, looking around the table right now, she felt more like a family with these three girls than she ever had with her parents and had probably spent more time with them this year than with her actual family too. How was that for seriously fucked up? Rachel who she'd spent most of their high school career torturing one way or another, up to the start of this year anyway. Quinn who she had spent about as much time fighting with as being friends with, though even when they fought they still had each other's backs. And Britt who… well, was Britt.

That was one fucked up family but honestly? She wouldn't have it any other way.

Of course Quinn just had to ruin it.

"So, have you decided between Santana Berry and Rachel Lopez when you two get hitched?" she asks over her cheese and bacon burger.

Santana was nonplussed. Though she would never admit anything to anyone, she had been trying to decide between Berry-Lopez and Lopez-Berry pretty much since they had exchanged the Claddagh rings that they both wore. Rachel's reaction revealed a little more surprise since it almost included projecting the current contents of her mouth across the booth and Quinn was more than a little relieved when the diva managed to swallow instead.

"Well I think it's a little early in our relationship to be considering lifelong commitment like that." Rachel declares once she had gotten over her surprise, "I mean yes, we have exchanged rings and said I love you, but I think we're both very much still in the early stages of working out where our relationship is going to go".

'Wrong' echo's through Santana's mind though she says nothing, just smiles back at Rachel when the diva glances her way and smirking internally at the look of puzzlement she receives in return.

"Rach, you two are having children together." Quinn points out, "That is pretty much a lifelong commitment right there unless one of you two are going to walk away from that. I don't see you ever doing that Rach and I'd kick Santana's ass into orbit if she tried, which I know she wouldn't. Marriages come and go, but kids are forever."

'Family' Santana thought, 'Right there, that's what makes us a family.'

At some level Rachel already knew what Quinn was saying, but despite everything that had happened over the last few months, she had never really thought about what it meant, not long term anyway. That much was evident because of the fork, previously en route from plate to mouth, was now hovering in mid-air as Rachel stared off into the distance over Quinn's shoulder. Santana on the other hand so that may be an appropriate time to stir the pot.

"Actually, I was thinking Berry-Lopez or Lopez-Berry." She says with a smirk, "I leaning towards Lopez-Berry right now."

Rachel's head span around towards Santana of approximately the same time that her fork hit the plate with a clatter. "Seriously?"

For one word it was a very large question. Was Santana seriously thinking that far into the future? Was Santana seriously planning for them to be together forever? Was Santana seriously thinking about marriage?

"Why wouldn't I be Serious Rach?" Santana asks softly. She reaches out, takes Rachel's right hand from where it was still hovering in mid-air and runs her finger over the gold band that wraps the ring finger, "Did you think I'd give something like this to just anybody? I told you what it means right?"

Rachel nods and Santana smiles, "Well there you go then."

"But marriage?"

"When I gave you that ring I told you I knew it was too early for an engagement ring for us, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about it. And honestly?" Santana leans forward to press a chaste kiss against Rachel's lips, "Yeah, sometime in the future I do see myself marrying you."

Santana gives Rachel one last smile before returning to her own rapidly cooling meal and can't help but notice the look of adoration Britt is giving her and the smirk currently occupying Quinn's face. Which means, of course, that far too much time has passed since Santana's teased her about the events of earlier in the evening.

"So Q, how long have you been getting off on someone watching you?" she asks. Quinn doesn't manage to show Rachel's restraint when it comes to ejecting the content of her mouth, but luckily it's only onto the table. Santana chuckles before she continues, "I mean, I know there was the time I walked in on you two, but I was just wondering if it was a common thing."

"Santana!" Quinn splutters, "We do not let people watch!"

"I mean, where do you even find people that like to watch? Is there some place you can go to meet up, or maybe a website or what?"

"I said we don't let people watch us!" Quinn hisses, "Yes Britt or I might get a little handsy in public, but we have never let anyone watch us have sex."

"Except me"

"As I remember you barged in on us in my bedroom, that's not exactly the same as selling tickets for front row seats! Now can we please change the subject?"

"No need to get your panties in a twist Q, I'm just trying to work out of Rach and I should stay and watch or leave you two to it the next time you get 'a little handsy' on the living room sofa."

At this point Quinn's face is bright red, Britt is looking on in amusement and Rachel is still off in a little world of her own.

"Would it really matter what I told you? Somehow I think you'd do what you damn well please anyway." Quinn huffs

Santana considers this for a moment, "Yeah, probably. But we both know you'd love us watching."

"Well the next time you two start, I'm not going to leave either." Quinn declares with a smug expression on her face. She obviously thought that suggestion would phase the Latina.

"Fine" Santana says with a shrug, "We'll see whose more embarrassed after Rachel's done screaming my name."

"What?" Rachel asks looking around in confusion, reacting only because she had heard her name.

"Nothing honey, finish your meal."

An unspoken temporary truce was called as the four girls returned their attention to their meals. Most of their attention anyway since Santana's hand had found its way onto Rachel's thigh just under the hem of her skirt which the diva found to be rather distracting. Especially when she did _that_ with her fingers.

Santana never did know why she glanced up when, in an unusually silent moment, she heard the restaurant door open but what she saw made her freeze with her fork half way to her mouth.

"Shit"

"What?" Quinn asks glancing up and Santana and then starting to follow her gaze.

"Don't turn round Q!" Santana hisses, "Your parents just walked through the door."

Quinn jaw dropped open, "What?! They never eat here."

"Well apparently they do now." Rachel observes as her eyes track the two's progress across the room, "At least their sitting at the other side of the restaurant."

"What do you want to do Q?" Santana asks.

The blonde looks down at her food suddenly not so hungry and drops her fork onto the plate, "Finish up your food and let's get out of here as soon as we can."

"We can go now…" Rachel offers.

But Quinn shakes her head, "Britt needs to finish eating and so do you two. Just don't take too long."

It seems to Santana that Quinn is trying to shrink into her seat and trying not to glance over her shoulder every few seconds. The Latina glances up to check on Quinn's parents and realizes that Mr Fabray is heading in their direction.

"Fuck" Santana says as she starts to stand, "Come on, let's go."

But it's too late because a slightly surprised looking Mr Fabray is standing next to the booth and blocking the way out. Quinn studiously looks in any direction but his, Britt is holding her hand and looking like how Santana feels; namely that she wants to beat the shit out of him.

"Lucy."

Quinn doesn't look up and just plays with the remainder of the food on her plate.

"Lucy Fabray!" Russell snaps.

"That's not my name." Quinn says flatly without looking up, "It's Quinn."

"Lucy Quinn Fabray" Russell more or less spits out through clenched teeth, "Your Mother has persuaded me to give you one more chance, the frankly I don't believe you deserve it." His look turns smug as he continues, "So if you apologize to both of us, ask to come home and promise you'll start to behave properly like the young woman we brought you up to be, I'll let you move back in and everything can go back to normal."

"Apologize?!" Quinn was already on her feet and climbing over Britt to stand defiantly in front of the man she used to call her father. Santana whispers something to Rachel then rises to stand at Quinn's shoulder.

"Why the hell do you think I'd want to apologize to you?" Quinn demands but doesn't give Russell a chance to answer, "It was you that that cheated on my mother, it was you that made both our lives hell, it was you that gave me a black eye within an hour of moving back in and tried to lock me in my room for the weekend without any food! That's abuse Russell" the tone Quinn used for his name made even Santana wince, "They put people in jail for crap like that you know. I have nothing to apologize for and even if I did, I have no desire to apologize to scum like you."

"Don't you dare lie you little brat!" Russell spits, "I'm giving you a chance you don't deserve, a chance to beg for forgiveness and come back to your family and here you are spouting lies and hate like the evil little girl you are."

"I learned from the best then obviously, didn't I? Because where else would I learn to behave but from my beloved father?"

Quinn was definitely in full Head Bitch mode right now and that worried Santana as much as Russell did. The Latina takes a quick glance around and spots Rachel with Britt at the cashier's desk paying for their meal as Santana had asked, in the process keeping them both well out of the way of Russell. She also notes just how many people are staring at the three of them, their meals forgotten.

"And why do you think I'd want to come back to that mausoleum you call a home? I'd have a better and more welcoming home if I lived in the gutter! Family? I have more family with my friends and Girlfriend in the past few weeks than I've ever had with you."

When Russell hears the word Girlfriend he turns red and starts sputtering. No one can really make out what he's saying thankfully because both Quinn and Santana are sure none of it is very complementary.

"That's right Russell" Quinn says with a smirk, "Girlfriend. Because I'm gay. Your darling little daughter you brought up to marry off to some weird clone of yourself is gay. G-A-Y. Homosexual, a lesbian, queer, a faggot, a dyke. All those labels you spat out in your hate fill rants about anyone not exactly like you I wear with pride because I am in love another girl and you know what? I'm done hiding it."

Quinn notices Russell's clenched fists vibrating at his sides and smirks, "What you going to do daddy?" she taunts in a sickly sweet voice, "Going to hit me again? In front of all these people? Take a look around father, because I can see a few members of your church here right now and they are getting to see a whole new side of you."

"You are no daughter of mine!" Russell declares

"Finally, something we can both agree on."

"I'm cutting you off."

"You already did that when I left, or is that another thing you've forgotten along with the physical abuse? And it didn't take you long either, did it? But I bet you got a surprise when you tried to clear out my bank account, didn't you?" Quinn sees the spark of anger that confirms her point, "Yeah, I had your name taken off of my account when Mother kicked you out. And Mother's name too because I knew if you ever came back she'd end up doing whatever you told her to."

"You'll regret the decisions you make tonight young lady." Russell hisses his hands still clenched into fists at his sides.

"Threats now Russell?" Quinn asks, "Did everyone hear that?"

Quinn doesn't take her eyes off of Russell but Santana glances around to see a few people at nearby booths and tables nodding. "I heard." She answers Quinn's question.

Quinn nods, "I regret plenty of things. I regret living under your thumb for so long. I regret letting you influence me so much that I couldn't accept my feelings for Britt for years and when I did accept them I had to ask her to hide our relationship. I regret my Mother didn't kick you out of the house years ago like you deserved and I regret that she ever decided to take you back. But I will never regret leaving and I will never regret falling in love with Brittany!"

Santana is pretty sure she can see steam coming out of Russell's ears but the man, if the term could be applied loosely, seemed to be frozen to the spot in his rage. His hands clench and unclench repeatedly at his sides and his jaw works up and down but no sound escapes. The Latina takes this as a good time to make their escape and grabs Quinn's hand.

"Let's get out of here Q" She says pulling the blonde towards the door and their waiting girlfriends.

When they reach the door, Britt pulls Quinn into a hug and declares loud enough for everyone to hear "I love you too Quinn" then adds quietly so that only Quinn can hear, "You are so getting lucky tonight."

A furious Russell watches them break apart and then all four girls walk out of the restaurant hand in hand with their respective girlfriends.


	24. Chapter 24

They didn't go to the movie after all. Quinn barely makes it out of Breadstix before she starts shaking badly and it takes both Santana and Britt to get her belted into the back seat of the car. Rachel is already in the front passenger seat when Santana closes the back door, so the Latina climbs behind the wheel and, with one last glare at the building, puts the car into drive and heads home.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

It's the first thing Quinn has said since they left the restaurant and comes almost as soon as they step into Santana's house. Britt immediately whisks the other blonde upstairs to the nearest toilet and apparently forgets to close the door as moments later retching can clearly be heard from the upper floor.

Santana secures the front door and sets the perimeter alarm, she's pretty sure Britt is going to be staying over tonight not just because of the events of the last hour but because the blonde had been staying over every weekend since Quinn had moved in. It didn't bother Santana or Rachel that Britt spent so much time in the house, in fact in cases like this she was glad Quinn had someone that would be there with her because Santana wouldn't be very good company, she was seriously pissed off with Russell right now.

Santana finds Rachel leaning against the worktop in the kitchen staring out of the window into the back garden and apparently waiting for the coffee machine to finish bubbling away. She walks up behind the girl and wraps her arms around her, resting her hands on the diva's baby bump and her chin on Rachel's shoulder.

"Are you okay Rach?" Santana asks.

"Why wouldn't I be San? It wasn't my father and he wasn't ranting at me."

"Yeah, but it was still a scary situation and I don't want anything happening to you or our babies."

"I'm okay honey" Rachel turns in Santana arms and loops her own arms around the Latina's neck, "I just don't get how he knew we were there. He seemed to expect to find Quinn there and she did say they never eat there."

Santana shrugs, "She also said a bunch of people from his church was there, maybe they called him to ask if he knew she was out with us. But one thing I do know is we need to be a little bit more careful for a while. Make sure the doors are locked when no one's coming or going and keep our eyes open when were out and about."

"Do you think he'll try anything?" Rachel asks worriedly.

"I don't know Rach, but better safe than sorry. Right?"

Britt and Quinn eventually make their way back downstairs and they all decide to take their coffee downstairs to curl up with their respective girlfriends on the loveseats in the basement and watch a movie on the media centre installed down there. It wasn't a bad way to spend the remainder of the evening.

* * *

Something has been bugging Santana about the previous night. She thinks it's something that Quinn said when she was arguing with Russell (Santana refuses to even think the word father with respect to that man) and yet she's not sure what it was. So she's still staring out of the bedroom window trying to figure out what it was when Rachel finds her.

"Santana! You're supposed to be getting ready, not staring out of the window! Do you want to be late for our first class?"

Classes on a Saturday. Worse, classes on a Saturday morning when all Santana wanted to do was curl up in bed with Rachel and maybe make her scream a little (in a good way). Who the hell scheduled classes at ten o'clock on a Saturday morning? Okay granted it was only an hour and it wasn't a school class and there wasn't a test at the end of it (unless you counted labour and birth which, Santana admits to herself as she considers it, are probably worse than a test) but still, Lamaze classes at 10am on a Saturday morning? Please…

She heads over to her shared closet and starts digging around inside. Her first thought is jeans but all her jeans are pretty tight and while they made her ass and legs look great, they aren't good for crawling around on the floor in. She hasn't been to one of these classes before but she's pretty sure if she wears an outfit that doesn't allow her to crawl around on the floor, that's exactly what she'll have to do. She makes a mental note to add a few pairs of looser jeans to her wardrobe.

Which leaves her with sweats since it's still too cold out to break out the shorts, though crawling around on the floor in shorts probably wouldn't be a good idea either. She doesn't want to attract the wrath of half a dozen pregnant women if their partners eyes start wandering, not that she'd blame then, Santana knows she has a great ass. Rachel has told her so many times. Not Cheerios sweats though, Coach Sue would probably not be happy to find Santana turning up at Lamaze classes in Cheerios colours even if she seems to be okay with her and Rachel being together. She teams it up with a t-shirt; zip up hoodie and some sneakers and she's ready to go.

Rachel, of course, has been ready for the last half hour.

The drive to the doctors isn't long thank goodness because, yes they are a little late leaving the house, but Santana assures Rachel that they will be there on time. She also makes the mistake of complaining about having to get up so early.

"I thought you agreed these classes were a good idea?" Rachel asked, "After all it was your idea to switch doctors to one that would take better care of me."

"I'm not saying they're a bad idea, I'm just saying it's too early in the morning for this kind of thing. Aren't there classes later in the day?"

"On weekdays yes, but we're generally at school for those ones."

"So don't regular people have jobs?" Santana asks

"And that's why there's one on a Saturday morning."

Santana huffs, "Too damn early on a Saturday morning."

Rachel smiles, "Look at it this way honey, it's only for a few months."

"A few months? It's every weekend until September Rach, that's almost seven months!" There are a few moments of silence and Santana glances at Rachel to find the diva is glaring at her. "What?"

"While you're complaining about having to get up early on a Saturday for a few months, just remember what I have to do. I'm going to be pregnant for the whole of the summer. I'm going to spend the hottest months of the year slowly getting bigger and bigger. My ankles are going to swell, my back is going to hurt and I'm probably going to spend way more time than normal needing to pee. And that's not even considering the mood swings which, trust me, will cause you to suffer a lot more than I will. And then, to top it all off, I have to go back to school for my senior year just about ready to pop. Knowing my luck my waters will probably burst in front of the whole school humiliating me just before I spend who knows how many hours in painful labour to push a tiny, fully formed human being out of my body not once but twice! Who do you think has the harder job here Santana?"

By the end of Rachel's speech they had arrived at their destination and Santana had pulled into a free parking space, but neither girl makes a move to climb out of the car. Rachel is turned to watch Santana while the Latina sits staring blankly out of the windscreen for a few moments. Santana feels like crap, she really does. She's spent most of the morning pissed off at having to be up so early even to the point of complaining to Rachel about it and she hasn't even thought of what Rachel is currently going through and will go through in the near future, all because of her.

"I'm sorry Rach" Santana turns to look at the other girl, not even trying to blink back the tears that were now running down her cheeks "I'm sorry I ever got you in to this. I should have stopped you, or used protection or something… I'm sorry…"

"No" Rachel reaches over to grab Santana's hand from the steering wheel, "You have nothing to be sorry for and nothing to apologize for. We're both responsible for our situation Santana and all that stuff I just said is outweighed by the good stuff. It got me you and we're going to have children. And yes, it's going to be hard and painful and possibly even mortifyingly embarrassing, but it'll be worth it. Because of us, all four of us, our family. That makes it worth it."

Rachel pulls a pack of tissues from her purse and offers them to Santana who uses one to wipe away her tears and blows her nose.

"So, are you ready to go in?" Rachel asks, "Because the class is supposed to start soon."

Santana had her choice of clothing validated as soon as they both stepped in to the large room they had been directed to for the class. There were half a dozen piles of pillows and mats arranged in a semi-circle around where the nurse leading the class would apparently present from. More importantly there was a table along one wall with various baked goods and coffee which drew Santana's attention like a magnet.

Rachel watches Santana with a smile as she headed across the room. It was never a good idea to get between the Latina and her first cup of coffee of the day and she hadn't had a chance to have a cup before they had left that morning. So instead she trails Santana across the room as she checks out the other couples in the room.

There are two couples that apparently know each other as they are standing near the middle of the room chatting with each other while a third couple standing to one side looking around as nervously as Rachel is. Rachel makes it to the snack table just as Santana finishes pouring a cup of coffee and, after glancing at the label on the pot, Rachel lifts the cup out of Santana's hand.

"Hey!" Santana says.

"Thanks honey" Rachel smiles at her girlfriend as she takes a sip.

"Rach, you shouldn't be drinking that." Santana says as she tries to recover her drink from Rachel.

"It's decaf San, its fine."

Santana looks at the label on the pot again and her shoulders slump, "I knew it was too good to be true." She says while pouring herself another cup anyway.

They each take a croissant to go with their coffee and turn to survey the other people in the room. Another couple have entered since Rachel's first examination and have joined the two couples standing in the middle of the room.

"So what do you think?" Rachel asks.

"That we hold the honour of not only being the youngest couple here, but the only homosexual couple."

Rachel bit her lower lips in thought as she looked around the room, "We could just say you're here to be my labour coach if you want." She offers quietly, "We haven't done anything since we arrived that would give anyone cause to believe otherwise and if we're careful it shouldn't be a problem."

She isn't sure what she expects Santana's reply to be to her offer, but she isn't expecting the Latina to sweep her into her arms and kiss her like their lives depended on it.

"Now we have" Santana says with a twinkle in her eye, "Rach, I'm done hiding us. If these people have problems with our relationship, well that's their problem not mine and they can go fuck themselves as far as I'm concerned. I'm not ashamed of being with you or being seen with you."

Rachel gifted Santana with that smile, the smile that had given Santana the strength to tell the Glee club the truth, the smile that made even the sun seem dim, the smile that made everything okay and made Santana heart skip, the smile that said I love you now more than you could ever know.

"Okay parents and helpers! Now everyone's here we should get started. Please pick a spot and get settled."

The nurse that was leading the classes had just walked in with the last couple and called the class to order. The last couple turned out to be two rather nervous young women who had barely made it through the door and were, in Santana's opinion anyway, hanging on to each other as if they were scared they were going to be torn apart.

"I guess we're still the youngest here." Santana whispers to Rachel.

The diva follows her gaze in time to see one of the women look directly at them and appear relax a little, "You don't know that, she could just be a helper."

"Not the way their clinging to each other Rach."

The woman that was looking at them had nudged her companion who had glanced up at her and followed her gaze to where Rachel and Santana stood and also obviously relaxed. No one else has made to sit yet so Santana takes Rachel's hand and walks over to one of the piles, picking one near one end of the arc and pulling Rachel down to sit between her legs. She looks up at the two women still standing by the door and once she's sure she still has their attention, nods towards the spot next to them at the end of the arc putting Rachel and herself between the two women and everyone else.

"San, what are you doing?" Rachel asks as she watches the two women walk over.

"People like us need to stick together Rach" Santana explains, "They're nervous and I'm just trying to make them feel a little more comfortable."

For some reason Santana isn't entirely sure of, Rachel gives her that smile again.

"Okay everyone" The nurse says when everyone has finally taken a spot, "I'm Emily and I'll obviously be leading this class. Now we have a few new couples this week so I think it would be a good idea if we go around and each couple takes a moment to introduce themselves."

They start from the far end of the arc and Santana thinks it's pretty much the usual. Boyfriend/girlfriend, fiance's, married, first child, second child, a banker, a teacher, etc. etc. Go to any Lamaze class anywhere in the USA and you'd see the same thing. Then it was their turn and of course Rachel decided to take the lead.

"I'm Rachel and this is my girlfriend Santana. We're juniors at William McKinley High School, Santana's on the Cheerios and we're both in Glee club. We're about nine weeks along right now so it's too early to know gender but we do know we're having twins."

"So how did your so-called girlfriend take you cheating on her and getting pregnant? Or did you decide between you to use some poor boy to make your infantile baby dreams come true?"

It was the male of one of the original two couples who had been standing in the middle of the room when Santana and Rachel had arrived. Santana had noticed him throwing odd looks their way every so often but had refrained from saying anything, something that was about to change.

"How Rachel got pregnant is of no concern of yours, but I will say no one cheated, no one conspired and no one was tricked."

"And yet her she is canoodling with another girl rather than the father of her child, it's disgusting." The man says sneering at them, "It shouldn't be allowed. Those children will never have a proper childhood, they should be taken from you and the both of you sent to a correctional institution to learn the error of your evil ways."

As soon as he'd started his rant, Santana had made to get up to confront him but Rachel had held her down. That doesn't stop her responding though. "Our children will have a better childhood than yours obviously. They won't be brought up in a small minded, bigoted home that perpetuates hate and homophobia."

"THAT IS ENOUGH." The nurse leading the class finally interrupts in a tone that reminds Rachel and Santana of Coach Sue. "Mr Smythe, I think it is best if you and your wife attend one of our other sessions from now on, or sessions at another facility. You are no longer welcome here."

"I paid for these sessions; I will not be kicked out because of some underage lesbians."

"You are being kicked out because of you couldn't contain your unpleasant opinions Mr Smythe." The nurse says, "You are of course welcome to whatever opinions you like, but you will not express them here. Now leave before I call security."

They did leave after some additional blustering but without the need to call security and things went a lot more smoothly after that. The nurse apologized to all the couples and pointed out that she would not stand for any intolerance in her classes before allowing the last couple to introduce themselves. Their names were Jane and Halie who were in their early twenties and who had used IVF to get Halie pregnant using sperm donated by Jane's brother. They were looking forward to having their first child and were just a couple of weeks behind Rachel and Santana.

After that the class is actually pretty interesting. The nurse is starting to teach them some massage techniques that will help Rachel relax and hopefully reduce any stress during her pregnancy and it doesn't hurt that Santana had learned a few techniques of her own during a training course she had been sent on with some of the Cheerios. From what Santana can tell, Rachel really enjoys being massaged and lets out one or two rather too loud moans during the lesson.

At one point there's a rather pained exclamation followed by a slap and someone saying a little too loudly "Why can't you be as good at this as Santana? Maybe I should ask to swap."

That made Santana blush and everyone else, including Rachel, chuckle.

At the end of the class, the nurse asked if anyone had any questions they would like addressed and one rather hesitant hand was raised at the far end of the arc.

"We were just wondering… you know… how long we could… um…" stuttered the young man.

"Oh for god's sake" His partner says and Santana identifies the voice as belonging to the woman who had wanted to swap partners earlier, "He wants to know how long we can carry on having sex."

The sudden attentiveness in the room shows that more than one couple are interested in the answer to that particular question and the nurse similes indulgently, "Well in general there's no problem in having intercourse right up until Mom goes into labour as long as Mom is happy and comfortable with doing so, though if there are complications your doctor might advise otherwise."

Most people seem to be happy with this answer but the nurse continues, "After the birth though will be different. It varies depending on how difficult the pregnancy is and how much tearing there is, but on average it is a couple of months before Mom will be ready to have sex again."

"What?!"

Santana hadn't even realized it was her that blurted out the word until she noticed everyone was smirking at her.

"I'm afraid so Santana and given Rachel is having twins it might be longer than that." The nurse says not unkindly, "But take my word for it, you'll both probably be too tired to even think about it."

"No… I mean… tearing?"

At the end of the nurse's explanation of that particular side effect, Santana isn't the only one looking decidedly queasy. Rachel, however, doesn't seem to be bothered.

"How are you okay with that?" Santana asks after the class is over.

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at Santana's reaction, "Because I already knew about it San. Most women are going to suffer some tearing if they have a vaginal birth. I've already done a lot of reading on the subject and maybe you should too. I can lend you my book if you want."

"But isn't that going to hurt, like a lot?"

"Under normal circumstances I guess it would, but do you really think it's going to make much of a difference when I'm already trying to push two babies out of there?"

"God Rach, what have I done to you?" Santana wonders as she pulls the diva into her body for a hug.

"San you have to remember I had a choice as much as you did, more probably. I could have gotten rid of them and then none of this would have been an issue. But I didn't, I decided to keep them so just remember that all of this is as much my fault as yours." Rachel smiles up at the girl holding her "And just remember, when they put those two little babies in our arms, it'll all be worth it."

Santana just holds Rachel that little bit tighter, "I love you Rach."

"I love you too San. Now how about we head home and you can practice your massage technique?" Rachel suggests with a grin.

After a few moments they collect themselves and Santana releases Rachel from the hug, taking her hand as they make to leave the room. But they are approached by Jane and Halie.

"Err, we just wanted to thank you for… well, making us welcome earlier I guess. We thought we would be the only gay couple here and, well we were a little worried. I guess rightly given what that idiot said to you two." Halie offers.

Santana just shrugs as Rachel wraps her arms around the Latina's waist and leans against her side. "It was nothing really" Santana says, "You looked a little nervous and I figured we should stick together."

"Are you two really just sixteen?" Jane asks, "Because you look like you're about our age".

"I don't know if that's a complement or an insult" Rachel jokes with a smile, "But yes, we are just sixteen."

"Do you guys want to have an early lunch with us?" Halie offers suddenly, "I mean, if it's okay with your parents I guess. We've only just moved in to town for Jane's work and we don't really know anyone yet and as you said, couples like us should stick together."

"Well, since our parents really don't have much say in our day to day lives any more, I think we can agree to lunch with you." Rachel says.

They found out a lot more about Halie and Jane during lunch. The couple literally had moved in to town that week and didn't know anyone apart from a few people Jane had met through work. When they told Rachel that they had moved from New York the little diva had immediately started to bombard them with questions about the city and her own plans of going to NYADA and then Broadway. Santana just sat quietly and smiles, happy for the moment that Rachel hadn't given up on her dreams.

Early lunch turned into a guided tour of the town center and the formation of a tentative friendship between the four young women. Telephone numbers were exchanged and promises of keeping in touch and seeing each other at the next class were made and it was already mid-afternoon by the time Santana and Rachel finally got home.

* * *

It felt like a lifetime since she last sat on this sofa with her feet up on the coffee table in front of it listening to her iPod while flipping through a magazine while ignoring her homework. And yet the magazines were exactly the same as they had been at her last visit, Santana figures that the next issue hadn't even been published yet. It felt like a lifetime but it had only been a few weeks.

Rachel was already in the office of her therapist. Her Monday afternoon appointment was an hour before Santana's and while the Latina was still at Cheerios practice, but Santana had seen her car out in the car park and the receptionist had reluctantly agreed that the diva had arrived safely. Since Santana hadn't seen her since the end of Glee practice, the Latina was hoping that the diva would be done with her appointment before Santana had to go in to her own.

That said Santana found it reassuring that Rachel would be sitting in the waiting room waiting for her when she was done, even though she could and would have to drive home herself.

They had never talked about whatever they discussed at their appointments, never even talked about the appointments themselves except to confirm they were going on any particular Monday. And yes, Santana would admit that she sometimes wondered what Rachel talked about to her therapist but they seemed to have come to an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't pry in to each other's sessions.

But unfortunately Rachel didn't make it out to the waiting room before Santana was called in to Dr Michaels office and with one last glace over her shoulder, Santana closes the office door behind her and drops down onto the sofa. After the initial greetings, the doctor gets right down to business.

"So Santana, how have you been since your last appointment?"

"The last appointment I actually turned up for you mean?" Santana asks with a smirk.

"Well I wasn't about to say something like that. I know you don't generally miss them without a good reason, so if there's anything you want to talk about relating to that I'm here to listen."

Since Santana had come to Dr Michaels during the abortion misunderstanding, she had felt a lot more comfortable with the doctor. It was like they had formed some sort of bond that allowed the Latina to do something she did with very few people, to open up. So Santana tells her everything, all the events of the last two weeks.

Rachel's collapse, the secret of their relationship and Rachel's pregnancy slipping out, the news about Rachel having twins, Quinn moving in with them, the Tay-Sachs scare, the joy of the negative test results, the truth about Santana's condition coming out, Hiram walking in on them having sex in the guest bedroom, the worry that the knowledge of Santana's condition would escape into the general population of the school, the coach telling Santana she already knew and giving Rachel the Cheerios protection, the incident with Quinn's father at Breadstix and finally the incident at the Lamaze classes the previous Saturday.

And when she's done she breathes a sigh of relief to herself and waits for the doctor's reaction, though she kind of knows what the doctor's first question will be. Except it doesn't come immediately. For a very long time the doctor just sits there looking at Santana, her mouth hanging slightly open as she regards the young and still amazingly composed girl sitting before her.

Santana wonders for a moment if she has managed to break her therapist.

Eventually Dr Michaels pulls herself together and they spend the rest of the session talking about the impact this has all had on Santana. They are coming to the end of the hour when the doctor asks about Rachel.

"I know you mentioned Rachel used to see one of my colleagues here, is she still doing that?"

Santana nods, "She had an appointment the hour before mine and she's probably waiting for me out there." She gestures towards the waiting room.

"That's good, it's been a hard two weeks for both of you and I'm glad you both have someone to talk to. Now what about Quinn?"

"Sorry?" Santana asks confused.

"The last two weeks sound like they have been pretty hard for Quinn too. She's lost her home, lost her Mother, told a hostile father about her sexuality and has been cut off. I know you, Rachel and Brittany are looking after her, but it might help if she speaks to a professional. Is she seeing anyone?"

"Um, I don't think so. She's never mentioned it if she is."

The doctor takes out one of her cards and writes a time and date on the back, "My 5pm appointment tomorrow is free right now. If you can persuade her to come and see me, it might be helpful for her."

Santana takes the card and nods, not having any clue how she's going to persuade Quinn to see a therapist. But the doctor has a point and if it help Quinn, maybe between the three of them they can persuade her to go to at least one appointment.

Santana knows time is about up, but she has one last question, "Um Doc, I've talked with Rachel about showing it to Britt and Quinn, 'cause you know they've asked to see it in the past. I was just wondering what you thought…?"

"Showing them your penis you mean?" the Doctor asks, when Santana nods she asks "Are they pestering you to show them?"

Santana shakes her head, "They've asked once or twice in the past, but they've never been annoying about it and they haven't even mentioned it recently."

"So why are you thinking about showing them now?"

Santana shrugs, "It just seemed the logical thing to do, I mean after Glee club found out the truth, isn't showing someone the next step?"

Doctor Michaels considers her response carefully, "Well Santana I honestly think the decision is up to you and to an extent Rachel, but you should ask yourself what you think you'll get out of doing it. If you're doing it for yourself, if you think it will give you some closure or confidence that is one thing. But if you're just doing it to assuage Quinn and Britt's curiosity then that's another matter entirely. Just remember that the only reason they are asking is because you are different and they are curious about that."

Santana nods, "Thanks Doc, I'll think about it."


	25. Chapter 25

Rachel was indeed waiting for her when Santana exited Dr Michaels' office and they spend a couple of minutes making out before the receptionist kicks them out of the building. Santana follows Rachel as usual on the short trip home since Rachel sucks when it comes to trying to tail someone and once they get home Rachel announces that she's going for her normal soak in the tub, it helps her unwind after a taxing session with the therapist. Normally Santana would join her, but tonight the Latina pauses at the bottom of the stairs.

"I need to go speak to Q first." She explains.

Rachel turns at looks at her with concern, "Is something wrong?"

"No, the doc just thinks Q would get some benefit out of talking to someone." Santana shrugs, "Now I just have to persuade Q of that."

"Do you want me to help?"

Santana considers it for a moment then shakes her head, "I think there's more chance she'll at least consider it if she doesn't think we're trying to gang up on her."

Rachel heads upstairs and Santana finds Quinn in the kitchen working on dinner. It had only been a little over two weeks since the blonde had moved in but Santana had already lost count of the number of meals she had presented to them at the end of the day. It wasn't that Santana couldn't cook, her Abuela had taught her plenty of dishes, but she didn't have the knack for picking up new recipes out of a book that Quinn had which meant that any vegan meal she tried to prepare for Rachel ended up more like a burnt offering than food.

Rachel just set things on fire and had been banished from the kitchen and banned from even attempting to cook. Quinn on the other hand loved to cook and Santana was happy to admit she was pretty damn good at it. Santana and Rachel's diet has improved significantly in the last two weeks.

"Hey" Santana says as she sits down on one of the stools by the counter.

"Hey" Quinn says glancing up from her work, "Dinner in fifty."

"You know you don't have to keep doing that."

Quinn shrugs, "So does that mean you're going to stop eating what I cook?"

"Hell, no."

"Didn't think so." Quinn says with a smirk "Anyway the stuff I cook is better for us than take away all the time and you know what'll happen if Coach thinks we're getting fat."

"Bottom of the pyramid" Santana nods

"Or off the squad totally."

"Both of us? I doubt it. You, Britt and I are the best she has. Where is Britt anyway?"

"Her Aunt is in hospital for some reason, she wasn't sure why. Her whole family are going to visit tonight."

They sit for a while with just the bubbling of a pot of the scraping of a knife to interrupt the silence.

"So what it is?" Quinn finally asks.

"Hmm?"

"Well, when you two come back from your appointments you usually head upstairs to do unspeakable things to each other in the bathroom."

"We don't do unspeakable things!" Santana objects, "We just take a bath together, it helps Rachel unwind."

"Is that all?" Quinn asks eying the Latina.

"Okay fine, I enjoy it too."

"Whipped." Quinn mutters.

"Hey, I've seen you and Britt sneak in there too. Tell me you don't do the same thing!"

"We don't sneak and I didn't say I wasn't whipped too, but I think we're talking about you. So why exactly are you sitting there looking at me as if your trying to work out how to drop a bomb? Because frankly, I'd just rather you spit it out rather than trying to sugar coat it."

Quinn was more than a little worried, she didn't exactly have anywhere to go if Santana asked her to leave and she couldn't think what else her friend would want to talk to her about right then. But she couldn't think of anything she had done that might have given Santana and Rachel cause to want her out, unless you counted the little incident on the living room sofa on Friday, and she's pretty sure they wouldn't just chuck her out without good reason. It doesn't stop her worrying thought.

"Look, if you're going to tell me to move out or something, just tell me." She says.

"What? No!" Santana's reaction shows genuine surprise, "Q this is your home now, why the hell do you think I'd ask you to move out?"

Quinn shrugs, "We don't always get along."

Santana nods "True. We might argue or fight, we might not even talk to each other for days or even weeks, but families argue and families fight but in the end they are still family."

"My family disowned me." Quinn mutters.

The blonde looks so dejected that Santana can't help but step around the table and pull Quinn into her arms, "You're family is here now Q. Me, Rach and Britt. And we'll never ask you to move out. Ever."

They stand there for a few minutes before awkwardness overcomes the moment and they pull apart, Santana returning to her seat and Quinn returning her attention to the food.

"So?" Quinn asks.

"I almost broke my therapist today." Santana offers. When Quinn just raises an eyebrow, Santana continues "She asked me why I had missed my last appointment and I told her what had happened in the last two weeks. Pretty much everything that happened. She sat there for like five minutes with her mouth hanging open." Santana chuckles, "At one point I thought she might not say anything for the rest of the hour."

"It has been an eventful few weeks for you." Quinn agrees.

"Anyway, when we were done she suggested you might want to talk to her yourself." Santana produces the card Dr Michaels and holds it out to Quinn, "It's not just Rach and I that have had a hard time these last few weeks."

Quinn looks at the card for a moment then shakes her head, "I don't need to talk to anyone San. I'm fine."

"Q, take it from someone who knows, it can help even if you don't think it can…"

"No" Quinn slams the spatula she was holding down onto the worktop, "I don't need help from some headshrinker!" she yells.

There's a long moment of silence before Santana speaks again. "You always said it was okay to need someone to talk to Q, it was you and Britt that persuaded me that it wasn't something to be ashamed of. Why is it different for you?"

"It's not, it's not different. I just don't need it."

"That's what I thought too Q, but I was wrong. It might help to talk to her even if you don't think it can." Santana sighs, "Look, she doesn't even charge for the first session, so you can go talk to her and if your right and it doesn't help then at least you're not any worse off than you were."

"Fine" Quinn snaps.

"Will you come with me?" she asks a moment later very quietly.

"Sure Q, I'll come with you."

Santana climbed the stairs and it only takes a moment for her to slip out of her Cheerios uniform and into a robe in her bedroom before heading along the corridor to the bathroom. The door is unlocked as she expected and when Rachel sees her enter, the diva scoots forward allowing the Latina to slip into the warm water behind her.

"How did it go?" the diva asks.

"Easier than I thought." Santana admits as she wraps her arms around Rachel, "She's going to go but she wants me to be there."

"You would have gone anyway." Rachel says with certainty.

"Yeah."

There's a pause as Santana reaches for a sponge and slowly starts washing every part of Rachel she can currently reach, much to the diva's enjoyment.

"I made a decision today." Santana says.

"Mmmm?"

"You remember how we talked about showing Quinn and Britt little Santana?"

"Little Santana?" Rachel giggles as she wiggles her hips a little, "Not-so-little Santana from what I can feel right now. But yes, I remember."

"Well I decided I'm not going to do it. They're curious and I appreciate that, but I think it'd be weird to go out of my way to show them. I'm not going to freak if they happen to see it though."

"How would they happen to see it?" Rachel asks genuinely confused.

Santana chuckles, "Do you not remember what we did on the sofa a few days ago?"

"Good point."

"Talking of which, Quinn thinks we come up here together to do unspeakable things to each other."

"Really?" Rachel asks in an amused tone as she turns in the tub to straddle the other girl, "Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint her now, would we?"

* * *

In the end they all end up waiting in the therapist's office the next day. Rachel because Santana was her ride to school that day and Britt because she had used her pout when Quinn had tried to ask her not to come. They are in the waiting room a lot earlier in the day than Santana is used to which means there are other people in there, something Santana isn't used to. It doesn't seem to bother Rachel or Britt, but Quinn seems as nervous as Santana though both girls are trying to hide it. It didn't help how everyone had checked them out when they came in but then four teenagers, three of which were wearing Cheerios uniforms, tend to attract attention. For once Santana wished they didn't.

They are all crammed onto one sofa which is slightly too small for all of them and it's not the sofa Santana usually chooses when she has to spend time in the waiting room and for some reason that just makes her more uncomfortable. But Rachel is crammed against her on one side and Quinn on the other with Britt beyond the other blonde and Quinn has gotten a hold of both Santana and Britt's hands and doesn't seem inclined to let go any time soon, so all Santana can do is sit there and wait.

Luckily they don't have to wait too long before a door opens and Dr Michaels comes out. "Quinn Fabray?"

Quinn shoots up from the sofa almost instantly, "Yes Ma'am."

The doctor smiles and gestures back to her office, "If you'd come this way. And Santana, can you join us for a moment."

Dr Michaels leads them into the office, Quinn following and Santana closing the door behind them. As soon as the door clicks closed, Quinn speaks up.

"I thought these sessions were supposed to be private." She says indicating Santana's presence.

"They are" the doctor confirms, "and that's why Santana is here right now. I know it can be worrying for some if two people who are friends see the same therapist, they may not open up as much as they would otherwise or my worry that I would pass on something they said to the other person. I want to assure both of you that that will not happen. Anything either of you say will remain in total confidence and will not be repeated to anyone else, even if they ask. Understood?"

Both girls nod. "Quinn knows pretty much everything I've said about her in here." Santana offers.

It's the doctors turn to nod, "And if you two want to talk about it between yourselves, that's fine. Just be assured that I won't talk to either of you about the other behind their back."

More nods from both girls.

"Now there obviously some facts about recent events relating to you Quinn that we all know I know about, they are after all the reason I asked to speak to you. Now I'm not going to pretend that I don't know those facts, though I will ask to hear your view of them when we start the session proper, but that is all I will discuss with either of you. I won't discuss anyone's opinion on those events with the other. Okay?"

More nods.

"Finally Quinn, and this is something I say to all my patients, if at any time you want someone else to be here with you during a session all you have to do is ask. You can have someone specific, a friend or, well someone you trust, or a neutral third party and I won't be offended in any way if you do ask. Do you want someone with you today?"

"No" Quinn shakes her head, "I'm okay."

"Okay." The doctor nods, "Santana, if you would return to the waiting room please."

"I'll be right outside Q, okay?" Santana says.

She waits until the blonde nods before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind her. When she gets back to the waiting room she finds that Britt has scooted up the sofa to sit next to Rachel, but when the two see her they move back down the sofa allowing the Latina to slip in beside the diva. There's nobody else in the waiting room now, so she feels a lot more relaxed.

"Everything okay?" Rachel asks obviously trying to be upbeat.

"Yeah, the doc just wanted to make sure we both knew she wouldn't discuss with either of us anything the other had said." Santana shrugs "You know, friends having the same therapist, I guess it could be awkward."

They spend the next hour sitting and waiting. Rachel, of course, digs out her homework and makes a start on it and, after receiving a few pointed looks and heavy sighs from the diva, Santana does the same. Britt seems engrossed by something on her mobile phone and, unlike Santana, is totally immune to Rachel's pointed looks.

She remains that way right until the doctor escorts Quinn back into the waiting room. Britt jumps up from the sofa and immediately crosses to the other blonde, wrapping her arms around her and letting Quinn bury her face in Britt's neck. Rachel and Santana also collect their thinks and stand to join the others.

"Are you okay Q?" Britt asks quietly but before she's even registered the small nod from Quinn, she has demanded of the doctor "What did you do to her?!"

"Brittany right?" The doctor asks.

"Yeah."

"It's nice to meet you Brittany." The doctor offers, "And we just talked, that's all. It can be very tiring and emotional to talk about some things. The best thing you can do is take Quinn home and let her sleep if she wants to. And please don't ask her what she talked about, she'll tell you if she want's too. Okay?"

Britt nods and turns to lead Quinn to the exit, Rachel following close behind. Santana turns to follow but the doctor stops her, waiting for a moment until the other girls had gotten out of earshot before continuing.

"Santana, Quinn has asked me to tell you that she's going to be attending sessions with me for the next few weeks at least. She also knows you're under no obligation to do so, but she was wondering if you would accompany her for the next few sessions just like you did today."

"Of course" Santana says, "But why didn't she ask me herself?"

"I think she thinks you'd see it as some form of obligation if she asked you and you wouldn't be able to say no even if you wanted to."

"Of course I'm not going to say no, it doesn't matter who asks." Santana says.

"I think she'll be happy when you tell her that."

Santana nods and turns to follow the other girls out, then turns back. "Put her sessions on my bill would you? I don't want her worrying about bills right now."

The doctor nods and Santana hurries to catch up with the other girls. When they make it to the cars, Quinn and Britt climb into Santana's back seat and Rachel takes the keys while Santana drives Britt's car home. By the time Santana has parked and makes it into the house, Quinn and Britt have already disappeared up the stairs to Quinn's room. Santana finds Rachel lounging on one of the sofa's in the living room and plops down next to her.

"Quinn looked pretty upset when she came out of the office." Rachel observes.

"It can be like that when you talk about some things, even if you don't talk about them." Santana says, "Didn't you feel the same way after your first therapist appointment?"

"No, I was just happy to have someone other than my fathers that I could talk to. I mean, my dads were always there for me, but there are some things a girl doesn't want to talk to a father about. Was your first session like that?"

Santana shakes her head, "No, but then I hardly said anything for months after Mama and Papi started making me go. Ironically it was Quinn that persuaded me to open up one week, though even then I only went so far. And yeah, I felt exhausted afterwards but I think it depends what you talk about and what emotions it all brings up."

"She'll be okay though right?"

"I hope so Rach, I hope so."

* * *

Santana is alone as she arrives home on Wednesday having just dropped Rachel off at a dance class after the end of Glee club. The diva hadn't felt like driving that morning when an unusual bought of morning sickness had sent her rushing to the bathroom but luckily she had recovered enough by lunch time to survive the rest of the day without incident.

Santana's eyes fall on Quinn's car still parked at the end of the driveway as she's locking her own and once again she gets that nagging feeling that she's missing something. The car hadn't been moved pretty much since Quinn had parked it there a couple of days after she had moved in because, in a reversal of what had always been the norm, Britt was driving Quinn to and from school these days. This struck Santana as odd since it meant Britt was coming out of her way to collect Quinn.

The house is empty when Santana gets inside which is odd because Quinn had said she was going straight home after Glee and should have been there by now. No Quinn meant no Quinn-cooked dinner which was a bit of a shame but Santana decides it may be time for some take-out anyway, they haven't had any in a while. About half an hour before Rachel is due home, one of her class mates promised to drive her, Santana dials Quinn's mobile number to see if she wants the Latina to order for her too.

"The number you have dialled is no longer in service." The automatic voice proclaimed.

Santana frowns and looks at her phone for a moment before she dials again and gets the same result. This time she dials Brittany.

"Hi San" The bubbly blonde answers after a couple of rings.

"Hi Britt, do you know where Q is?" There's silence for a moment than Santana sighs, "Britt, I can't see you nod or shake your head over the phone."

"Oh, I forgot." Britt says, "Yeah she's here… Well she's not right here; she's in the office being interviewed."

"Interviewed? For what?"

"For a job duh… She's not famous enough for TV yet."

"Why is she looking for a job?" Santana asks. After a few moments silence Santana prompts "Britt?"

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone San." Britt says and Santana can hear the pout over the phone line.

Santana runs an exasperated hand through her hair, "Do you know why her phone isn't working?"

"Yes."

"And?" Santana prompts after it become clear Britt isn't going to continue.

"I can't tell you."

"This isn't helping Britt."

"I know, but I made a promise and you always said I shouldn't break a promise." This time it's Britt that sighs, "When's the last time Quinn drove her car?"

"Um, a couple of days after she moved in I think." Santana answered confused.

"And do you know what she has for lunch at school these days?"

Despite being on the phone Santana shrugs, "I usually spend lunch with Rach, but I assume she just has whatever the cafeteria has, unless Coach is on one of her protein drink kicks."

"She brings a bag lunch now." Britt says quietly. There's a pause and then Britt continues, "She brings a bag lunch, she hasn't driven in weeks, you know her phone doesn't work and she's looking for a job. Think about it San, I know you can work it out. But I have to go, Quinn's coming back and doesn't look too happy. We should be back there soon."

Santana slips her phone back into her sweat pants pocket and stares out of the living room window and Quinn's car with a furrowed brow. At first she couldn't see the link, what did not driving have to do with bag lunches? But then a thought hits her and she heads out to the bowl in the hallway where they all keep their car keys. Quinn's are in there so she grabs them and a moment later is slipping into the driver seat of the car, keys in the ignition and flicking on the electronics.

The gas gauge shows the tank is nearly empty. Quinn isn't driving because she has no gas and the only reason to have no gas that Santana can think of is because you have no money to buy gas. No gas, bagged lunches, no phone and looking for a job all make sense now especially since the blonde probably thinks she has expensive therapist bills to pay now since Santana hadn't told her she would be picking up the bill.

Santana actually bangs her head off of Quinn's steering wheel at her own stupidity. Of course Quinn doesn't have any income, she's been disowned by her parents and if Russell was petty enough to try and clear out Quinn's current account like the blonde had thought he would, he sure as hell wasn't going to give her any money to live on. It all made sense now, the thing that had been annoying her every time she saw Quinn's car was the fact it hadn't moved in so long when Quinn usually drove Britt to school. The fact that Quinn hadn't offered anything for rent or food, not that Santana wanted any money from her friend, was so unlike the blonde that the Latina can't believe she hadn't realised it before. Santana had been an idiot.

When the two blondes arrive home Santana is waiting for them in the hall.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demands of Quinn as she more or less drags her into the living room.

"It was just a job interview" Quinn says looking rather confused, "It's not a big deal."

"Not the job Q" Santana snaps, "I'm talking about the fact your broke."

"I'm not broke, I have money!" Quinn declares but she won't meet Santana's eyes, "I just have to make it last and paying therapist bills isn't going to help."

"An after school minimum wage job isn't going to pay enough for therapist bills Q" Santana says not pointing out that Quinn is never actually going to see a bill from the therapist anyway, the blonde would probably not thank her for picking up the tab

"I'm not looking for an after school job." Quinn snaps and the expression on her face immediately tells Santana that she had not intended to reveal that fact.

"Are you telling me" Santana asks very quietly, "that you are planning on dropping out of school?"

Quinn sighs, drops her backpack on the coffee table and wearily collapses onto a sofa, "What am I supposed to do San? He's not going to give me any money, my Mom will just do whatever he tells her too, I can't keep living here and eating your food for nothing and even if I do, there is still plenty of stuff I need money for."

"Dropping out of school and getting a dead end job may be a short term fix Q, but you'll regret it for the rest of your life. You've got too much potential to waste in Lima."

Quinn just shrugs, "What choice do I have San?"

Santana's eyes land on Quinn's backpack and a moment later she has it open and is rummaging around in Quinn's purse before pulling out a bank card. "Everyone has a choice Q." She says as she disappears upstairs leaving a rather surprised Quinn staring after her.

She did call Russell first. She was polite and introduced herself and it wasn't until she explained why she was calling, that Russell as a father had a responsibility to provide for her daughter, that he hung up on her without a word. When she called back he didn't even answer the phone.

She sat and thought for a few minutes, considered going over to confront Russell face to face, but the slamming of the front door and call of greeting that indicated that Rachel had just arrived home made the Latina remember that she had more important responsibilities these days and Russell was just enough of an asshole to actually hit her like he had his own daughter. So instead she picks up the phone and calls her own bank to make arrangements.

Rachel is mid-rant about how dropping out of school is a bad idea when Santana finally descends the stairs. Apparently either Quinn or Britt had told Rachel of Quinn's plans and the diva wasn't very happy and was telling them so very loudly. Santana couldn't help but smile as she watched her girlfriend being all protective of their friends and once again she thinks just how great a mother the little diva will be.

"Okay Rach, relax." Santana says as she walks over to her and wraps an arm around her waist, "Getting stressed isn't going to be good for the babies."

Rachel takes a deep breath and calms immediately but she looks up at Santana with a pout, "Tell her San, she can't drop out. It'll ruin her life!"

"I know but it's taken care of honey." Santana holds out the bank card to Quinn, "There's five thousand dollars on there on top of whatever you had before and each month it'll be topped up with another thousand. If you need any more, let me know."

Quinn looks surprised but takes the card, "How…? You spoke to Russell, didn't you? But how…?"

"I did and I can be very persuasive." Santana confirms. This is technically true, but she isn't about to tell Quinn where the money actually came from, she knows the blonde wouldn't accept it. "Now no more talk about dropping out of school to get a job okay?"

Quinn nods absently still unable to absorb this new information, "I didn't want to; I just didn't think I had a choice."

"Now go fill up your gas tank and take your girl out for a celebratory meal. I think you owe her a thank you for driving your ass around for the last two weeks."

Once Quinn and Britt have left, Rachel and Santana settle themselves onto one of the sofa's to wait for their take-out delivery

. "Did Russell really come up with that cash?" Rachel asks

Santana shakes her head, "He hung up on me then refused to answer the phone."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because she wouldn't have taken it if she knew it was from me. She'd be stubborn enough to drop out, take some dead end job and ruin her life. I wasn't going to let that happen."

"She won't be happy when she finds out."

Santana shakes her head, "The account the money is coming from doesn't give any indication of who owns it, so she won't find out that way, I'm not about to tell her and I doubt her father will even talk to her anymore. And if she does find out, well I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'd rather have her pissed at me than throwing her life away."

"You really care about her, don't you?" Rachel asks smiling up at Santana.

"She's my friend and we're her only family now. And I won't have any of my family making bad choices because they have money worries when I can so easily solve problems like that."

* * *

After so many weeks of drama, the next month turned out to be a lot more relaxed. Quinn went back to driving her girlfriend around rather than the other way around and even offered Santana rent for allowing her to stay in the Latina's home. Santana refused of course, explaining that the house was owned outright so none of them were actually paying to live there. Quinn pointed out the other expenses of living in a house, electricity bill, phone bill, food and so on, but Santana's mind could not be changed and eventually Quinn gave up.

For Santana and Rachel, the month became a whirlwind of school, Glee, Cheerios, therapist appointments, doctor's appointments, sonograms and Lamaze classes. Each visit added more still sonogram images and DVD's to their collection, Rachel even starting a scrap book so they could keep everything organized. Jane and Halie became good friends to the point where Santana and Rachel bring them home one weekend to meet Quinn and Britt.

Rachel's baby bump grows of course, it's not massive but it reaches the stage where it's obvious even when the diva tries to hide it beneath one of her sweaters. Britt tells them that the rumours have switched from the possibility that Rachel is pregnant, because it's now visibly obvious she is, to who the father was and what Santana thought about it all. No one approached the diva though; at least not after Santana gave Ben Jacob Israel a black eye after he tried to stick a microphone in her face.

The peace was shattered one evening in the middle of an unusually heavy rain storm when Santana opens the front door to Britt standing on the doorstep soaked to the skin and crying.


	26. Chapter 26

The pounding on the front door started late one night in the middle of what had to have been one of the heaviest downpours Lima had seen all year. Santana and Rachel both jumped where they were sitting on one of the living room sofas and automatically turned their heads towards the door. They weren't expecting any more company tonight, Quinn was upstairs in her room and as far as they knew Britt was planning to spend the night at her own home after her mother had put her foot down about the number of nights the blonde had slept over.

Hence why Quinn was sulking in her room.

Well, not really sulking but Santana and Rachel had been so cute and snuggly all evening that Quinn ended up missing her girl all that much more so she had made her excuses and headed upstairs so she wouldn't have to be in the same room as them. That and Quinn pretty sure they were just moments away from doing it on the sofa again if all the giggling, whispering and touching going on was any indication. She could swear she saw Rachel's hand disappearing down the front of Santana's sweat pants at one point, the girl was insatiable.

Santana stands and crosses to the front door, cautiously opening it slightly to peer outside before suddenly throwing it open.

"What the fuck Britt?!"

She reaches out and drags the soaked and shivering blonde off of the doorstep and into the heat of the house, glancing out to the driveway before slamming the door closed.

"Did you walk here in that rain? And for god's sake, where's your coat?" she demands but doesn't give the blonde a chance to answer before she's calling upstairs, "Q! Get your ass down here and bring towels and one of those fluffy robes!"

Santana drags Britt into the living room, standing her on the rug in front of the fireplace before turning the fire on to a high setting, for once Santana is glad of the near instant heat of a glass flame. Britt is just standing there shivering, her arms wrapped around her body and Santana could swear her lips were starting to turn blue. The dancer is wearing sweat pants, a hoody over a t-shirt and sneakers and as far as Santana can tell every single piece of clothing is soaked through.

"Britt, we're going to have to get you out of those clothes." Santana says kindly.

The blonde nods and tries to unzip the hoody but her hands are shaking too much to be able to grip the zipper tab. Santana gently pulls the blondes hands away and pulls the zip down herself before pushing the hoody down off of Britt's shoulders and letting it drop to the floor.

"If you two are down here ripping each other's clothes off and making a mess by fucking on the sofa again, I'm going to…" Quinn rambling stops when she turns into the living room and sees Santana pulling the t-shirt off of Britt's shivering form. "Britt!"

"We need to get her out of these clothes Q" Santana says as she crouches down to untie Britt's sneakers which are just as soaked through as everything else.

Quinn shoots across the room to her girlfriend and wraps one of the large towels around her shoulders. She supports the other blonde as Santana takes off first one sneaker and sock then the other and nods when Santana reaches up to the waistband of Britt's sweat pants and looks up at Quinn for confirmation.

The sweatpants come off and Santana cringes at the result, "Fuck, even her underwear is soaked."

Quinn is already pulling off Britt's bra, "Take them off."

"Britt?" Santana asks.

When the blonde nods Santana slips the girls panties down over her thighs and lets her step out of them. Quinn hands Santana a towel and both start drying the other blonde off before finally wrapping her in the robe Quinn had brought downstairs. Santana and Quinn pull the dancer over to one of the sofa's and sit her down, both rubbing her arms and hands to try and warm her up and a moment later Rachel joins them from the kitchen with two hot water bottles and a mug of hot chocolate, Britt's favorite drink. Quinn sits one hot water bottle in Britt's lap, sliding the other behind the blonde between her and the sofa before taking the mug and holding it so Britt can sip from it. She's still shaking too hard to hold the mug herself without spilling the contents.

Rachel watches Britt for a moment with a frown. "I'm going to go upstairs and run a hot bath, I think that will be the best way to warm her up. I'll call when it's ready." She says before disappearing upstairs.

"Britt, what happened? Why did you end up walking here in this downpour? Why didn't you call one of us?" Santana has many more questions to ask but those are the important ones, because if someone did something to Britt, she was going to kill them and given the look of anguish in Quinn's eyes she knows she'll have assistance.

But Britt just shakes her head and hugs the hot water bottle tighter, the wetness on her cheeks from the still falling tears rather than the rain.

"We're going to talk about this tomorrow." Santana says, "No arguments."

Britt nods and a few minutes later Rachel calls down that the bath is ready. Santana and Quinn help Britt up the stairs and Santana supports the blonde while Quinn strips off and climbs into the bath then pulling Britt in to sit in front of her.

"Do you need help?" Santana asks.

Quinn shakes her head, "I've got it from here."

"Shout if you need anything." Santana offers.

"And I'll go make up some fresh hot water bottles" Rachel offers, "I'll put them in your bed when they are ready if your still in here."

Santana closes the bathroom door behind her as they leave the bathroom and follows her girlfriend down the stairs to help with the hot water bottles.

"Why don't you make some more hot chocolate and put it in a thermos for them?" Rachel suggests as she starts heating some water.

Santana nods and crosses to the cupboard to get a thermos and the hot chocolate powder. "When I find out who did this to her, they are going to pay." Santana promises, more to herself than anyone else.

"We don't know what has happened Santana. It might not be anyone's fault."

"She was out in a torrential downpour in sweats Rach, with no coat! She doesn't have her car keys so she couldn't drive here and she doesn't have her phone so she couldn't call for help. Someone did this and god knows what else to her and when I find out who they are going to be very sorry!"

"Santana, you're not going to be able to help her or look after me and the babies if you're in jail." Rachel states as she fills the hot water bottles, "We'll figure out what's going on and sort it out, but you will not do anything stupid. Understand?"

"Bringing our kids into this is low Rach." Santana said in a defeated tone.

"I know" Rachel turns and wraps her arms around the other girl, "But it is true. We need you right now, Britt and Quinn as much as the babies and I, so you really can't go out and take the law into your own hands. You're going to be a parent soon Santana, already are really, and with that comes responsibilities that mean you have to think about your actions before you do anything. And while you were single with no one depending on you then it might have been okay to go out looking to get even, but you're not single anymore and you've got more important things to worry about now."

"We still have to sort this out." Santana says

"And we will, but like adults."

* * *

They had slipped the hot water bottles into Quinn's bed and left the thermos and two mugs on the bedside cabinet since the two girls were still in the tub together and then Santana and Rachel retreated to their own room to change and climb in to bed. As always, Rachel snuggles into Santana's side and the Latina isn't surprised at how quickly Rachel's breathing evens off as she falls asleep. Carrying two babies is starting to take its toll on the small girl and she's finding herself tiring out more quickly than she's used to. But if that means that Santana can climb into bed, wrap the other girl in her arms and listen to her sleep then the Latina isn't complaining one single bit.

While Santana is waiting for sleep to claim her she does something she's done randomly for the last few weeks. She slips her hand up under Rachel's top to rest it on her growing baby bump and she talks to her babies. She thinks Rachel doesn't know she does this, she's never done it when the diva is awake, but occasionally her voice wakes Rachel from her slumber. Sometimes she tells them stories she was told as a child, sometimes she tells them stories about her and Rachel, sometimes she sings quiet lullaby's in both Spanish and English and sometimes she just talks about her day, especially if something happened that was related to them. Tonight she has other things on her minds.

"I've told you both about Britt. She's the nicest, sweetest and most innocent girl I've ever met and tonight she's shown up at our door soaked to the skin and crying. Someone did something to her, I know they did and I'm going to find out who did it and make it right." Santana's hand starts rubbing small circles on Rachel's stomach and sighs, "The world isn't a nice place all the time but you two don't need to worry. You're Mom and I will be here for you when it's time for you to come out, we'll look after you and protect you for as long as we can. And yeah, at some point in the future I know you'll grow up and start out on your own but until you're ready to do that, and even when you do, we'll always be here for you both." Santana presses her lips against Rachel's bump in a chaste kiss, "I love you both just as much as I love your Mom."

Santana stretches out on the bed again and pulls the smaller girl back into her arms totally oblivious to the fact that Rachel was awake again and was blinking back the tears that Santana's promise and declaration of love had brought to her eyes.

* * *

At two am Santana gave up the attempt to sleep. Even Rachel's soft snoring that usually soothed her wasn't helping and the Latina knew she was about to get to the fidgety stage where, if she stayed in bed, she would just wake up her girlfriend and Rachel needed as much sleep as she could get. So she carefully disengages herself from the other girl, careful not to wake her up in the process, wraps herself in a robe and heads downstairs to see if there is anything worth watching on the television.

It appears Quinn had set the TIVO to record episodes of Doctor Who as there seems to be a number of whole series stored on the hard drive. Santana picks one at random since she didn't know what the episode was that she had watched last with Quinn, and let it play. She's actually starting to doze off when the sound of footsteps descending the stairs disturbs her.

"Shouldn't you be upstairs doing nasty things with your wife?" Quinn teases.

The Latina is trying to ignore the rush of jumbled feelings that had started with Quinn had called Rachel her wife. Excitement, joy, desire and just a little fear crowed for her attention and Quinn must see something in her reaction because she gives Santana a knowing look.

"Shouldn't you be upstairs looking after your girl?" Santana replies.

"I'm just down to refresh up these." The blonde says holding up the now cooling hot water bottles. "Thanks for the hot chocolate by the way."

"Rachel's idea."

"Of course." Quinn smiles.

"How is she?"

Quinn sighs and drops onto the sofa next to Santana, tossing the hot water bottles onto the coffee table. "She's warmed up at least, stopped shivering too and for the moment is sound asleep. I wouldn't be surprised if she comes down with a cold or the flu in the next few days though."

"Did she tell you anything?"

"No, but I have an idea of what's going on." When Santana just looks at her and waits, Quinn sighs again. "Remember I said her Aunt was in hospital."

Santana nods.

"It's cancer apparently, pretty advanced so they expect… well you know." Quinn shrugs, "Anyway, her Uncle is understandably not handling the situation very well so Britt's Mom took their kids in while things… progress. So that he doesn't have to worry about look after them too."

"But you said they didn't have space for you when you moved in here, how many kids are there?" Santana asks.

"Three. The oldest is the problem though; the other two are the sweetest kids you can ever meet, just like Britt is. But the oldest is a Bitch with a capital B. Think you and I at our worst the multiply by ten. And since she's only a year younger then Britt she ended up sharing Britt's room. The last time Brit talked about it, her cousin had taken her bed and made her sleep on an airbed on the floor. She wouldn't let me do anything about it though."

"So what's that got to do with last night?"

"I'm pretty sure that bitch locked Britt out of the house last night for the fun of it. Probably told Britt's Mom that I'd picked her up to stay over here for the night all the time knowing she was out in that downpour with no jacket, no phone and no keys."

"I'll kill her." Santana's response was instant and uncompromising.

"You can't, she's just a kid and you'll have your own kids to provide for soon. I'll go speak to her Mom tomorrow, see what we can do about it."

"Will she listen?"

Quinn shrugs, "I hope so otherwise I don't know what to do."

They fall into a thoughtful silence for a while and then Santana has an idea. "Ask her to move in here with us. She can share your room or move in to the guest room if the two of you aren't ready to share all the time. It's a perfect solution. We've got the space, it would be great to have Britt around, it takes some of the pressure off of Britt's Mom and it keeps Britt away from that bitch of a cousin."

"Are you sure that's okay?" Quinn asks.

"I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't Q."

Suddenly the blonde's arms around Santana and she's repeating "Thank you, thank you" into the Latina's ear. Santana allows the blonde to hug her for a while before she manages to detangle herself from Quinn's arms.

"Okay" the blonde says as she calms down, "I should go fill these bottles."

"Wait, answer a question for me first. How come this Doctor looks different to that one I saw when we watched that weird gasmask kid episode together?"

"Ah" Quinn says with a smirk, "Let me tell you about regeneration…"

* * *

At about four in the morning, Santana had felt tired enough to actually be able to sleep even if it was only for a few hours before she had to head back to school. Still, some sleep was better than none and she was used to going a few days with very limited rest thanks to Coach Sue's training schedule. When she enters their bedroom she pauses for a moment to smile down at her girlfriend laying spread out on the bed, one arm thrown over where Santana would be if she was in bed with the other girl.

She carefully slides into the bed, lifting Rachel's arm so she could work her way underneath it without disturbing her then, after a moment's thought, sliding it up under her top until Rachel's hand automatically closes around her breast and the diva curls into her side again. Santana has woken up with Rachel in this particular position many times and she has absolutely no objection to it.

When she does finally drift off to sleep, it seems like only moments later that she's being gently shaken awake by her girlfriend.

"Santana, it's time to get up if you want to get to school in time for practice." Rachel's voice whispers into her ear.

"Okay" Santana yawns and stretches, "I'm up, I'm up."

Rachel is watching her closely. "Did you have another restless night?"

"Worrying about Britt." Santana admits.

"You are a wonderful woman San." Rachel says as she presses a kiss to the Latina's cheek. "You really care for your friends, you worry about them to the point that you can't sleep and you do everything you can to make sure their safe. You. Are. Amazing." She punctuates the last sentence will little chaste kisses on Santana's lips.

"Um, on that note I may have told Quinn to invite Britt to move in. Is that okay?"

Rachel beams at her, "Of course it is honey. I wouldn't expect anything less. But does that mean you know what happened?"

Santana tells Rachel about the discussion she had with Quinn the previous night and Rachel gets as angry about it as Santana did.

"Her own flesh and blood! How could she do something like that? Britt could have gotten very sick and what if she didn't have anywhere to go?"

"Quinn's going to talk to Britt's Mom today." Santana explains, "I'm sure she'll punish the little bitch and either way Britt will be safe if she's living here."

"Do you think Britt's Mom will agree to her moving in?"

"I can't see why not, it'll give them a little more space around the house anyway and I'm pretty sure Quinn will be happy if Britt moves in."

Twenty minutes later a showered, dressed and still half asleep Santana leaves Rachel to her work out on elliptical her made her way into the kitchen to find Quinn making breakfast. She smiles her thanks as the blonde hands over some freshly made pancakes, they managed to break Quinn of the bacon habit for every breakfast, and suppresses a yawn as she sits down to eat.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Quinn asks.

"Some. A few hours at least." Santana yawns again, "How is she this morning?"

"You better not yawn or fall asleep at practice, Coach Sue will kill you. And she seems okay so far, no signs of any sniffles so maybe we got her warmed up quickly enough. She's having a shower right now."

"When are you going to speak to her Mom?"

"After school. We've decided that whatever happens she's going to move in here with us. I just can't stand having her living over there with that girl."

They fall into a comfortable silence as Santana eats and Quinn cooks. There's already a stack of pancakes on the table and Quinn has just dug out a clean pan from the 'vegan' collection, so Santana assumes she's making breakfast for Rachel now. It's a simple gesture but one that warms Santana's heart and just enforces the view she has of them as a family, looking out for and caring about each other. A family that's about to grow when Britt joins them.

"So when are you going to do it?" Quinn asks.

Santana looks at the girl in confusion, "Do what?"

"Propose you idiot, what do you think I meant?"

Santana just about chokes on her orange juice, "Propose? Where the hell did that come from?"

Quinn looks at her like she's grown a second head, "You did say you were going to marry her didn't you? And proposals generally come before marriage."

"Yeah, but we're not doing that for a while yet. I mean, we talked about it and we figured after collage." Santana said with a shrug.

"So?" Santana looks at Quinn blankly and the blonde sighs, "Sometimes I wonder about you San. How sure are you that you're going to marry her?"

"One hundred percent."

"So why haven't you at least asked her? San she's having your babies, don't you think she'd like to make things official before they're borne? And even if you do ask her in the near future it doesn't mean you have to get married any sooner. Don't you think she'd look better with your ring on her finger when she heads to collage with all those single classmates."

"She wouldn't cheat on me!" Santana declares.

Quinn nods, "I agree, she wouldn't, she's not that kind of person. But others will make passes at her, flirt with her and ask her out if they don't know she's with someone and jealous Santana isn't all that nice. Of course you could do the protective girlfriend thing and make sure everyone knows, but you know Rachel will only tolerate that for a little while before she demands you grow up." Quinn pauses to pop a piece of pancake in her mouth, "And honestly I think she'd be ecstatic if you asked her."

"She freaked when I gave her the Claddagh ring."

"But she's had a chance to think about it now. And I may have seen her trying out that ring on her left hand once or twice. I think she's ready, now all you need to do is figure out if you are."

Santana stares at Quinn with unseeing eyes for a moment as her mind works through the possibilities. "What about you? When are you asking Britt?"

"I'm not." Quinn shrugs.

"Seriously? You give me this talk about asking Rach and you're not going to ask Britt? I know you're as head over heels for her as I am for Rach so just why are you not going to ask her?"

"Because I can't. Because she wants to ask me and you know what she's like when she puts on that pout of hers. But let me tell you something, if she asked me today I'd say yes in a heartbeat. Because I am as nuts about her as you are about Rachel. She is it for me and I don't care who knows that anymore and all I can do is thank god that I found her when we were both so young. We have a lifetime together ahead of us and yes there will be ups and downs and we'll argue and fight like every couple but I'm looking forward to every second of it. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Just about then Britt literally skips into the and before Santana can blink, the blonde has wrapped her arms around Quinn and seems to by trying to do a tonsillectomy using only her tongue. Santana smiles as she sees for herself that Britt seems to be back to her normal, bubbly self. Moments later Britt has let a rather dazed looking Quinn go and has wrapped her arms around the Latina and rested her head on Santana's shoulder.

"Thank you for letting me move in." Britt says very quietly.

"Any time Britt. We're happy to have you here, really happy."

Britt digs in to her breakfast with the enthusiasm only Britt has. Rachel appears after her shower and accepts her pancakes from Quinn, she doesn't even bother to ask if they are vegan any more since Quinn has never forgotten, and they all eat breakfast together before heading to school and a tortuous Cheerios practice for everyone but Rachel.

* * *

Two practices in one day. Santana not only hurt all over, she's sure Quinn's feet and knees are pointier than normal today, but was also exhausted after not sleeping for most of the night. Rachel had been sitting on the bleachers for both of the practices and it was only the ability to glace over and see her girlfriend that kept her going through the practices. But every time she looked over Quinn's words slid through Santana's mind.

She was as sure Rachel was it for her as Britt was for Quinn, but could she ask the diva when they were this young? Would she tell Santana to wait because it was too soon, would she say no outright, or worse would she feel forced to agree? She knows Rachel loves her and they have talked about marriage, but talking about something that will happen years in the future is different to actually doing something about it right now. Quinn was right though, getting engaged now doesn't mean they have to change the time frame for the wedding and the thought of Rachel wearing her ring and being her official fiance makes her heart thump harder in her chest. But yet Rachel's reaction in the small hospital room is nagging at the back of her mind.

Santana's thought process is interrupted when she hears the lock on the door to the little cubical she's in snick back. The door opens and a moment later closes softly, the lock clicking back into position and Santana is sure someone is standing in the little changing area separated from the shower by only a thin shower curtain. She rinses off the rest of the suds and turns off the water before slowly sticking her head around the curtain. Her eyes go wide at what she sees.

"Rachel? You're wearing a Cheerios uniform." Santana says cautiously.

"I thought you'd like it." The diva says before twirling round once.

The top is a little tight over her baby bumps but Santana's attention is focused elsewhere because as the skirt flies out from Rachel's body she can't help but notice that the diva isn't wearing a complete Cheerios uniform, a very important part is missing.

"Um Rach, you know you're supposed to wear spankies with that skirt. Um, and panties too actually."

"Really?" Rachel actually manages to sound innocent, "Quinn never gave me any when she got me the uniform."

Santana's eyes bug out, "What did you tell Quinn you were going to do when you asked her for the uniform?"

Rachel smirks at the Latina, "Use your imagination."

Santana had been using her imagination. She had imagined pushing the diva up against the far wall and burying her cock deep between the other girl's legs and fucking her till she screamed Santana's name with the result that her cock was already painfully hard. She hadn't worked out that she could actually do that yet.

Rachel giggles at the faraway look in Santana's eyes. "I told her the truth. But don't worry she didn't seem surprised, more exasperated actually. And we can keep the uniform afterwards since it's one of the older ones and Quinn says Sue would be able to smell the sex on it anyway even if we dry cleaned it. I don't think it'll fit much longer though" Rachel says as she runs her hands over her baby bump, "so we might have to wait until after the babies are borne before we can use it again."

A moment later Rachel is pushed up against the far wall of the shower cubical, not too hard since Santana is still very aware of the babies she's protecting inside her small frame, and the Latina's lips crash against hers. There's a whimper of pleasure as Santana hands slip between the panels of the skirt and over Rachel's naked ass and the Latina is embarrassed to admit that it might have been her making the noise.

Their lips break apart to let them gasp for breath and Rachel manages to smirk. "Took you long enough." She gasps, "And we don't have long, we need to get out of the building before the caretaker locks up."

The next kiss is softer, opened mouthed and involves a lot more tongue. Rachel's fingers rake Santana's naked back as the Latina slips one of hands down between the diva's legs and gasps at the wetness she finds there.

"Damn Rach…"

"I told you, we don't have much time." She reaches down and grabs Santana's cock, "So hurry up and put this in me."

Santana doesn't need to be told twice. She extracts her hand from between the diva's legs and smears the juices she has collected all over her dick then she grabs the appendage and lines the head up with Rachel's entrance before sliding into the diva in one slow smooth moan inducing motion. She pauses once she's fully buried inside the smaller girl, giving her the time she needs to adjust to Santana's size, and when Rachel nods Santana starts rocking her hips back and forth, slowly sliding in and out of her.

As she picks up speed Santana actually has to cover Rachel's mouth because she's moaning so loudly. Instead Rachel digs her nails into Santana's back to the point where she's drawing blood, not that the Latina actually notices because she's too busy sliding her other hand between their bodies and searching for the other girl's clit. Rachel has been anticipating this moment for longer than Santana so it's no surprise that the diva is the first to orgasm, her inner walls suddenly clamping down on the Latina's cock just as she had finished pushing into the diva.

Unfortunately Santana's hand isn't enough to contain Rachel's scream and the Latina winces as the diva practically screams into her ear. But the felling of Rachel shuddering against her and pulsing around her cock is enough to make the coil of pressure in her belly explode. She adds her own voice to Rachel's scream as she empties herself into the other girl.

After a moment they slide apart and slump against the walls of the cubical, panting to catch their breath and then Santana is hurriedly pulling her clothes on. The next thing Rachel knows she's being dragged out of the locker room by the hand.

"Santana!" she hisses, "I need to put some underwear on."

"Nope" Santana says without slowing, "You're fine as you are."

Rachel attempts to cover herself by holding both the front and back of the Cheerios skirt down but with only one hand free she's failing miserably. "Someone will see."

"There's no one else here."

They get about half way to the exit when Rachel speaks again. "Wait, Wait!"

Santana stops and turns to the other girl, "What is it? You know we could have been out of here by now…"

Rachel glances around before hissing "Your cum is running down my thighs, let me get a tissue from my locker. It's just over there."

The next thing Rachel knows is her back is against the nearest block of lockers and Santana has pushed the front of her skirt up with one arm and pinned it against her hips, in the process not only exposing her to anyone that happens past but also holding Rachel securely against the lockers. The Latina uses her other hand to coax Rachel's legs further apart and then she licks up the inside of first one thigh and then the other, collecting all the cum and juices that had been coating them. She finishes by spending a moment running her tongue through the diva's folds and pushing it a little way into her entrance. Rachel almost comes on Santana's face right there in the hallway.

Then a dazed Rachel is swept into strong arms and she's using one arm to hang on to Santana's neck and the other to hold the skirt up over her bare ass as Santana charges along the corridor.

"We're finishing this as home." The Latina says with certainty as she heads towards her car.

"I want to sit on your face." Rachel manages, not caring if anyone hears her.


	27. Chapter 27

They almost didn't make it home. It didn't help that about half way between school and home Rachel propped one foot up on the glove compartment in front of her and slid a hand between her legs, letting out a moan as she inserted two fingers into herself that caused Santana to glance over and nearly swerve right off of the road. They certainly don't make it to their bedroom because as soon as the front door is closed behind them, Rachel has dragged the Latina into the living room and pushed her down onto one of the much abused sofas.

The next thing Santana knows is that she has a strong shapely thigh on either side of her head and Rachel towering over her, the front panels of her skirt tucked out of the way into the waistband. Santana surges upwards, her mouth molding itself to Rachel's pussy causing the diva to moan and brace herself against the arm of the sofa that was above Santana's head for support.

Rachel rolls her hips, pressing down against Santana's mouth as the Latina's tongue slips between her folds. Santana's hands are digging into Rachel's thighs and the cheerleader desperately wants to slide a finger or two into the other girl but her current position makes that near impossible, so instead she makes do with pushing her tongue as far into the other girl as she can while pressing her nose against the diva's clit.

She can still taste her own cum on Rachel and the moan she releases as she recognizes the taste causes the diva to shiver above her. Santana continues to work Rachel with her mouth, her tongue sliding out of the diva to stoke the length of her folds and flick or press against her clit before she pushes it back into her entrance, as she slides one hand up over Rachel's baby bump to find one of her breasts.

Santana's fingers closing around her nipple is enough to cause Rachel to lose control, she bucks and rocks against Santana's mouth as waves of pleasure crash throughout her body, her back arching and her own hands finding Santana's smooth breasts to squeeze as she floods the Latina's mouth with her juices. Santana doesn't stop until the diva's body goes limp and she's licked up everything the other girl can offer her. Then the diva slowly collapses backwards, still panting heavily, until she's lying on top Santana's body with her head resting on one of the Latina's thighs.

Santana really needs to get out of her compression shorts, they are definitely not the most comfortable piece of clothing to have an erection while wearing and for a moment the Latina wishes she hadn't put them on again after leaving the shower even if it had meant walking around with a bulge in her spankies. Rachel must sense Santana's discomfort, or maybe she just wants to taste the Latina again, because once she's caught her breath she rolls over on top of the other girl, her thighs still either side of Santana's head but she's now face down instead of face up.

It only takes a few moments to free Santana from the spankies and compression shorts which results in both a moan of pleasure from the cheerleader and a very hard penis sticking up between the panels of her skirt. It's not left that way for long however as Rachel pulls the skirt up around Santana's hips then wraps first her hand and then her lips around the other girl's penis.

Santana's eyes role up into her head and it's her turn to moan as Rachel's lips slowly descend the Latina's length. She has no idea where Rachel learned to do this stuff and it's not something she cares to think about too much, but the stuff the diva can do when she gets a cock in her mouth is mind-blowing and she's pretty much doing all of that right now. She can't take all of Santana into her mouth, the angle is all wrong for that right now, but one hand is stroking along the shaft she can't swallow while her tongue dances around the part of Santana that is in her mouth.

It's Santana's turn to rock her hips towards the other girl and groan as Rachel starts humming as she sucks and licks and strokes the Latina's appendage. The cheerleader opens her eyes when she feels something drip into her chin and she finds herself staring at Rachel's soaked pussy suspended just above her mouth. This time Santana can get her fingers where she couldn't reach before, so she moves one hand from Rachel's thigh, where the fingers had been digging in since the diva had taken Santana's cock into her mouth, and slowly slides two of those fingers deep into the other girl in one smooth movement as her lips close around Rachel's swollen nub.

Rachel moans around Santana's cock as the other girl slides into her pussy, sending vibrations deep into the Latina's core causing her to lose her concentration for a moment and then they fall naturally into a rhythm, Santana's fingers sliding in to Rachel as the diva's lips slide up the cheerleaders cock and sliding out as Rachel descends again. Rachel's teeth scrape up the length of Santana's cock just as the Latina's thumb pressing against the diva's clit and both girls jump and moan loudly at the unexpected sensation.

"Fuck Rach" Santana gasps, "Do that again."

Rachel obliges but as her mouth once again descends the Latina's length she reaches out with her free hands and wraps her fingers around Santana's testicles to squeeze them gently as she suck hard on the shaft that is filling her mouth. To Santana it is as if the diva has just pulled her trigger, the coil of tension that has been building in her pelvis since almost as soon as she had pulled out of Rachel in the Cheerios shower is released, her whole body jerking and her hips jerking up as she starts to pump her seed into the other girls mouth.

Her convulsions cause Santana to slam her fingers into Rachel harder than she had intended and her fingers curl automatically finding the little spot inside the diva that Santana knows drives her wild. It's enough to cause Rachel to follow the cheerleader off of the edge into her own orgasm, her fingers tightening around Santana's length as her inner walls grasp at the Latina's fingers. Rachel's knees slip, crashing her body down onto Santana's and for a moment she might have slipped off of the other girl totally, but Santana manages to get an arm around her waist and hold her in place as they both ride out the shaking and shuddering of their releases.

When they are both spent, the girls take a moment to clean the other thoroughly with their tongues before Rachel turns to allow her head to rest on Santana's shoulder and tangle their legs together. Santana's arms wrap around the smaller girl pulling her close and they kiss, tongues probing the other's mouth to taste themselves on tongue and lips.

They lie curled together on the sofa losing track of time until the front door slams and a voice calls out.

"Santana! Rachel! We just got home from Britt's and… oh shit."

The two blondes had walked in to the living room and spotted the pair on the sofa. Quinn immediately turns her back on the scene but Britt just eyes the pair until Quinn tugs on her arm.

"Turn around Britt." Quinn whispers.

"Why? I've already seen it, what's the point of looking away?"

That leaves Quinn speechless and Rachel gives a little chuckle. "She's got you there Quinn" the diva says.

Santana glances at her girlfriend who shrugs and the Latina sighs and rolls her eyes, "It's okay Q, you can look if you want to."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know you've asked to see it in the past and Britt's already gotten a good eyeful so..." Santana shrugs.

Quinn turns around slowly, her eyes meeting Santana's first before she looks anywhere else. At first Santana isn't embarrassed, she is who she is and her friends have known about her for years even if they have never seen it plus the fact that Rachel accepted it so easily as part of who the Latina is has helped significantly. But as soon as she starts feeling her cock getting hard Santana wants to crawl into a hole and die. She shouldn't be getting hard just because her best friends are looking at her, even if her semi-naked girlfriend is still curled into her side.

She risks a glance towards her friends and both blonds are standing staring at her with their mouths open. She wants to cover herself, but with one hand trapped under Rachel she has no way of doing that even trying to use her skirt and anyway they've all seen it in all its glory now. So instead she covers her eyes with her free hand, grits her teeth and tries to wish her erection away.

She wasn't expecting a hand to close around her shaft or a pair of lips to slip over her glands so she jumps somewhat when exactly that happens. At first she thinks that maybe Q or Britt had really gotten the wrong idea, but then she realizes that Rachel is no longer pressing into her side and when she glances down she sees a head of brown hair hovering over her crotch.

Santana's eyes flick up to the two blondes to find Quinn staring wide eyed and with red cheeks while Britt is smiling in appreciation. The Latina is about to laugh at Quinn's expression when Rachel does that thing with her tongue again and a moan escapes her throat instead. Rachel seems to take that as an indication that Santana is ready, or maybe she's just ready, and the next moment she is sitting astride Santana's hips with the Latina's cock sheathed deep inside her pussy.

Suddenly Santana just doesn't care who's watching anymore. Her eyes slammed shut when Rachel impaled herself on her cock, tan hands automatically finding their way to uniform clad hips as the diva's hands make their way down to squeeze the Latina's breasts through her own uniform. Rachel is using her thighs to slide up and down Santana's length, rolling her hips in the process to make the other girls cock move around inside her.

It takes a disturbingly short amount of time for Santana to reach the point where she knows she's going to come soon especially since she's already emptied herself into Rachel not once but twice, but one glance up into Rachel's darkened eyes tells her that the diva is just as close as she is. And then Rachel gasps, shudders and thrusts herself down along Santana's length just in time for her pussy to squeeze Santana like it never has before and suddenly both of them are coming, screaming the others name as their bodies shudder and clench together.

Rachel collapses on top of Santana again, burying her face into the Latina's neck as her body relaxes. Santana wraps her arms around the smaller girl's body as she feels her cock softening and slipping out of the diva's pussy. She glances at the two blondes again, they still haven't moved and Santana feels satisfaction at the thought that they are watching her cum dripping out of her girlfriend.

"Um, we're going upstairs for sweet lady kisses" a rather breathless Britt says as she grabs Quinn's hand and tries to pull her from the room.

"And orgasms" Quinn adds distractedly as she follows the other girl out, "Lots and lots of orgasms."

Santana chuckles as she listens to two pairs of feet thump their way up the stairs followed by the sound of a room door slamming shut. The bed in Quinn's room is new enough that it doesn't squeak and sturdy enough that the headboard won't bang against the wall no matter how energetic the users of it are. Thank god.

She turns her attention to Rachel, still lying on top of her like a blanket. "Okay, what was that?"

"What was what?"

"Well, you just gave me a blow job and then fucked me right in front of our housemates…" Santana prompts.

"You seem to know what that was then, you shouldn't need to ask." Rachel says in a teasing tone.

"Rach…"

The diva sighs into Santana's neck, "You looked a little uncomfortable when you started getting hard and I thought it might give them something else to think about. And I can never resist you when you're hard like that." Rachel props her chin up on a hand looking down at Santana below her, "Besides, I'm a star."

"Mi estrella" Santana whispers into Rachel's ear.

"Mmm… But you shouldn't be surprised that I like to perform in front of an audience."

Santana chuckles, in the process shaking the girl lying on top of her. "I hope you're not planning a repeat performance."

"I guess we'll see. I didn't exactly plan that one. But I know you enjoyed it from all the noises you were making. And dare I ask what that smug grin you directed at Quinn and Britt after we were done was about?

Santana shrugs, "Oh nothing really. I was just thinking about the view they had."

* * *

Santana and Rachel gave the two blondes an hour before they ordered take-out. An hour during which they showered (separately), dressed, ignored the moans, groans, screams and at one point a rather loud thump (Rachel thinks someone fell off of the bed) emanating from the two blondes room and settled down in front of the large television in the lounge to totally ignore whatever was currently playing preferring to make out instead.

When the hour passed, Santana called the local Chinese restaurant and arranged to have all four of the girls normal orders delivered then called upstairs to let Britt and Quinn know they would either have to be downstairs and decent in half an hour or reheat their dinner whenever they were done. Twenty five minutes later, just as Santana opens the door to accept the delivery, Quinn and Britt make their way down the stairs in matching sweats and with wet hair.

"You two remembered to wash your hands right?" Santana teases as she closes the door and carried their dinner into the living room.

"We showered together" Britt offers, "I made sure Q was nice and clean."

Quinn just rolls her eyes but her cheeks do turn pink, "And we could ask you the same question." She points out to Santana.

The Latina smirks and wiggles her fingers at Quinn, "But I wasn't using my fingers Q."

"Pervert" Quinn mutters playfully.

"You were the one talking about 'lots and lots or orgasms' Quinn" Rachel points out with a grin causing the blonde to turn even redder.

But Britt just nods happily, "Three each so far and I'm not done for the night." She offers making Quinn choke on a mouthful of food and Santana chuckle.

"Can we please talk about something other than sex?" Quinn asks.

Santana opens her mouth to make what Rachel assumes is going to be a smart remark, but the diva squeezes the Latina's knee and shakes her head with Santana glances over at her. The Latina rolls her eyes, only a little annoyed at missing out on teasing her friend a little more, and changes what she was going to say anyway. Yeah, she's whipped.

"So Britt, how did things go with your Mom?" she asks.

The dance smiles one of her really happy smiles and actually manages to bounce in her seat a little. "Mom said I could stay here for as long as I wanted as long as you two don't mind and as long as I go over there for dinner at least three times a week."

"We go over for dinner." Quinn corrects, "There's no way I'm letting that bitch get anywhere near you without me being around baby."

Rachel and Santana 'awwww' at Quinn and receive a glare in return.

"We've got most of my stuff in Quinn and my cars, except for my dolls house, hope chest and rocking chair, we couldn't fit those in."

"You have a dolls house?" Rachel asks in surprise.

"It's not a toy" Santana supplies having been over at Britt's house enough to have become familiar with said item, "It's like an antique or something."

Britt nods, "It belonged to my great grandma originally and it's been passed down to the eldest daughter of each generation until Mom gave it to me."

"It's absolutely massive and really beautiful" Quinn says, "You'll see when we bring it over."

"Well I hope you didn't leave it somewhere your cousin could get her hands on it." Rachel says and is relieved when both Quinn and Britt shake their heads.

"We moved it and the other stuff we couldn't bring into Britt's Moms room before we left, just in case." Quinn supplies, "Britt's old room looks really empty now. We even brought the TV and DVD player so her cousin didn't have them to use."

"Quinn wanted to bring my bed too, but I persuaded her that was just being too mean." Britt says and Quinn shrugs.

"Well, she's a bitch. Sleeping on the floor for a while wouldn't hurt her. And she deserves a little payback."

"So what's your Mom going to do about her Britt?" Rachel asks, "She's not letting her get away with it is she? Did you tell her about being locked out in the rain?"

"Quinn did" Britt admits, "Mom was furious. Sasha wasn't home from school yet, but Mom said she'd get punished when she gets back, especially since she basically drove me out of the house."

"She probably won't get what she's due" Quinn complains, "Given everything that's going on with her own mom. But at least she's not getting away with it totally."

"Well…." Britt says, using her fork to play with her food.

All three of the other girls look at Britt, they know that tone.

"What Britt?" Santana asks.

The blonde grins down at her food, "I may have picked her laptop, security blanket and a few other odds and end of hers by mistake when I was collecting my stuff." Britt shrugs, "We can take them back later when we 'discover' we have them."

"Britt!" Quinn gasps trying to suppress her laughter.

"Wait…" Santana says, "She's a teenager and she's still got a security blanket?"

Britt turns those big blue eyes in Santana, "I still have my security blanket."

There's a moment of awkward silence then Rachel adds "I've still got mine from when I was a kid. Don't you have yours San?"

Santana shakes her head, "I don't think I ever had one."

"Me neither." Adds Quinn sounding a little sad, "Or if I did my parents got rid of it. They aren't really sentimental like that."

"You can share mine if you like Quinn." Britt offers, taking Quinn's hand a giving it a squeeze.

"Thanks Britt."

The rest of the meal is eaten in silence except for the accompaniment of the television, then Santana collects the containers, plates and uneaten food and takes them through to the kitchen, filling the dishwasher and putting away the leftovers. When she returns to the living room, Quinn has a question for her.

"Oh San, I was wondering if I could borrow your SUV so we can bring the rest of Britt's stuff over tomorrow."

"Sure, that's… wait what?"

"Huh?"

"What SUV?" Santana says looking confused, "My car is right out there between yours and Rachel's and it's definitely not an SUV."

Santana had nothing against SUV's in principle; some people needed them and found them useful. Of course some people used them properly, to haul sporting equipment to inaccessible places or to come and go from homes that are, for some reason, at the end of dirt tracks in the middle of nowhere while others used them to take the kids to school. And while Santana wouldn't be seen dead driving one, she didn't get pissed off when she was stuck behind one in traffic.

"Um, the SUV in the garage?" Quinn says.

Santana gives Quinn confused look, "There's an SUV in the garage?" to which the blonde nods.

Honestly Santana hadn't been in the garage since they had moved in for no other reason than she had no reason to be there, she had gotten into the habit of parking her car in the drive with all the other girl's cars. And she knew that her Aunt never drove, at least not for as long as Santana could remember. She always showed up in a chauffeur driver car of some type and Santana couldn't even remember if the woman had ever gotten her driving licence.

The Latina stands and, followed by the other three girls, heads through the kitchen and utility room to the door that links the house to the garage. They then have to return to the main house to retrieve a set of keys, but a few moments later they are all in the garage looking at an SUV.

Quinn shrugs, "See? An SUV. I thought it was yours."

"No" Santana says, shaking her head "I've never seen it before. How long has it been here?"

"It was here when I moved in." Quinn says, "I thought I'd move my car in here with I was low on gas, but since it's parked in the middle of the garage there wasn't room."

"Rach?" Santana asks.

The diva shrugs, "I've never been in here. But why is it a mystery? I assume it belonged to your Aunt."

Santana checks out the SUV's tags, "It's was registered after my Aunt died. And in Florida?" she adds sounding surprised.

"Maybe the housekeeper or one of the gardeners is storing it here?" Britt suggests.

"Possibly, but they would have asked, they know we would have said it was okay. And anyway this is like a sixty thousand dollar car, I think it's a little out of the range of most gardeners and cleaners especially to have it lying around and not use it." Santana says.

Santana steps round to the front of the vehicle and pulls out her phone to take a photo of the front end and tags.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asks.

"Sending a photo to my Papi and my lawyer, see if they know about it. They both should have a list of my Aunts assets and if either of them authorized this things purchase, we'll at least know where it came from. In the mean time I suggest we don't go near the thing and if Papi and Leon don't know where we came from, we call the cops."

Santana makes sure the garage door is secure and they all file out of the garage and Santana locks the door behind her. As she walks back to the living room with the other girls, her phone beeps.

"Well" she says looking at the screen, "Uncle Leon doesn't know anything about it. I guess we'll have to see what Papi says about it."

"Wait, your lawyer is an uncle? Is that ethical?" Rachel asks.

Santana shrugs, "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. He's not really an uncle; he's just a close family friend." She looks up at the two blondes sitting on one of the sofa's and raises an eyebrow, "So I'll go over to Britt's house with you two tomorrow, between the three of us we should be able to get the rest of your stuff over here Britt. But shouldn't we unload the stuff that's still out there in your cars right now?"

Britt, Quinn and Santana spend the next half hour unloading everything from the two blonde's cars and carrying them all upstairs to what is now Quinn and Britt's room, only putting a few things they didn't have room for into the spare guest room. None of the three girls allow Rachel to help in anyway, even when she tries to replicate Britt's pout.

* * *

"You know I'm glad Britt's moving in" Rachel says from her place standing before the full length mirror in their bedroom, "It's like the whole family is here now."

They had sat downstairs and sort of watched movies for a while, which actually meant that Rachel and Britt had spent most of the time making out with their girlfriends rather than actually paying attention to the movies. After the second movie, they had all decided it was an appropriate time to retire to their rooms and now Santana was sprawled out on the bed watching while Rachel examined her baby bump in the mirror.

"I'm glad you feel like that Rach, I feel the same way too. Plus I don't need to worry about Britt being alone with that bitch of a cousin." The Latina sighs and shakes her head, "Britt used to love going to visit her aunt but then Sasha started acting up and every time she came home from a visit she'd have stories about how the bitch had played tricks on her or bullied her. She never let her aunt know though but she'd end up crying in Quinn's arms every time."

"Why didn't Quinn do something about it?" Rachel asks curiously. Quinn had always been very protective of Britt, just like Santana now is for Rachel, and she's confused as to why the head cheerleader would let it go on.

"Quinn warned Sasha to lay off, but it didn't seem to do any good. And Britt refused to tell her Mom and Aunt or allow Quinn to tell them." Santana shrugs, "No idea why."

"Well, at least it's all out in the open now."

"And Britt's safe and happy." Santana agrees, "And Quinn won't let her go anywhere near her cousin alone anymore so she's going to stay safe and happy."

Rachel turns side on to the mirror and sighs as she runs her hand over her belly, "I'm going to need bigger clothes soon. Do you think I'm getting fat?"

"Baby, you are not getting fat. You have two very precious new lives growing inside you and you know there are going to be a lot of changes to your body during the pregnancy, but you are not fat."

Rachel sighs, "I don't know. Do you think this is normal for this stage?"

Santana chuckles, "There is no normal babe, you know that. Heck you gave me the book to read that said that. Everyone's pregnancy is different and not only are you having twins, but your so fricking tiny to begin with. If you're worried we can ask the doctor at the next scan, but last week she said everything was fine and I think you look gorgeous as always."

Rachel turns and smiles at her girlfriend before turning back to the mirror for one last look before crossing the room to climb into bed. Neither of them are actually that tired at the moment which is unusual for Rachel so they both were both intending to read for a while. But Santana can't take her eyes off of Rachel's bump.

"Honey, if you want to talk or sing to them, just do it. You don't need to wait until I'm asleep."

Santana's eyes bug out and she feels her face heat up, "You know about that?!"

Rachel smiles, "You've woken me up a few times, so I probably don't know every time you've done it but I know you do. And it's fine Honey, I talk and sing to them too you know."

Santana did know, she had witnessed both often enough. Waking up to Rachel singing quietly and stroking her belly as if the babies could feel it was quickly becoming one of Santana favorite memories. But for some reason she always felt a little silly doing it herself.

"It wasn't that that I was thinking about actually." Santana admits, "I was thinking that we should take some pictures of you every week or month or something. You know, for the baby book."

"Oh, oh! That's a great idea. I wish we'd thought of that earlier. I guess I should wear the same thing for each set of photos." Rachel's mind is already going through her extensive collection of clothes, "Oh, but I don't think I've got anything that'll still fit in five or so months."

"I know an outfit you have that'll still fit then." Santana says with a smirk.

Rachel turns to look at her girlfriend in confusion, "What?"

"This" Santana says running her finger tips over Rachel's bare arm.

It takes a moment for Rachel to catch on, "Are you suggesting you want to take nude photos of me while I'm pregnant? Is this some sort of fetish you have that I didn't know about?"

Santana shrugs, "You have to admit you do look hot right now, not that you don't look hot normally. But this is temporary" she says running her hand over Rachel's belly "and I'd kind of like to have a record of it."

"But naked?" Rachel asks, "Photo's like that can't go in the baby book."

"No one other than us looks at that." Santana scoffs.

"My fathers look at it every time they come over and frankly I don't want them looking at pictures of me naked." Rachel says, "And Quinn and Britt spent half an hour trying to see the babies in the sonogram pictures just last week. Britt did say all she could see was a unicorn which she declared to be good luck, but the point is they do look."

Santana sighs, "Okay, fine. It was just an idea."

"I'll compromise" Rachel says, "We'll do some pictures with clothes for the book and then we'll do some without clothes, just for us." Rachel watches Santana's lips grow into a huge smile, "But there are a couple of conditions."

"Which are?" Santana asks cautiously.

"If I'm going to pose naked for you, you have to pose naked for me."

Santana seems to think about that for a moment then smiles, "Okay, I can do that. As long as the photos are just for us."

"And" Rachel says, "I want some photos where we pose together. Naked."

"How are we going to do that? We don't have a tripod or remote for the camera and running back and forth to frame and check pictures is going to be a pain."

It's Rachel's turn to grin, "Quinn can take them. She's good with a camera and you have nothing you need to hide from her anymore."


	28. Chapter 28

"You want me to do WHAT?!" Quinn pretty much shrieked the last word and made Santana wince. It was too early for shrieking.

Santana had found Quinn in the kitchen once again making breakfast for all of them, bacon again, and while the Latina didn't have a problem with that, she did think she'd have to start working out even more to keep in shape if Quinn kept this up. Maybe sex counted as exercise? If so, she was probably already ahead of the game.

Rachel was on that damn elliptical machine of her despite Santana's objections. They had a discussion about it of course, a rather heated discussion where they had both expressed their opinions vigorously though not loudly, and then Rachel had shown Santana web page after web page that said using the device was perfectly acceptable as long as certain precautions were taken. Santana had at least been successful in making the diva promise to turn down the resistance, not work as hard and discuss the continued used of the device with their doctor at the next appointment.

When Quinn had confirmed Britt's current location, in the shower, Santana had decided to approach the topic she had discussed with Rachel the previous evening. At first the blonde had been enthusiastic, agreeing that photos of Rachel and even of them both at various stages of the pregnancy for addition to the baby book was a great idea and happily agreeing to lend her photography expertise to gain the best results.

It was Santana's suggestion that they take some nude pictures, tasteful of course, that had provoked that reaction from Quinn.

"Oh come on Q, it's just taking some photos." Santana says

"No, not going to happen. No way in hell." Quinn says shaking her head, "And just in case that isn't clear, No"

"What? Why?"

"Why?" Quinn asked in disbelief, "Because when the clothes start coming off, you two can't keep your hands off of each other and I'm not about to stand there and take photos of the two of you having sex with each other. So not going to happen." Quinn shakes her head, "It's bad enough walking in on you two doing it on the sofa, and thank god that doesn't happen all that often, but I'm not subjecting myself to that every month. I'll do the clothed photos as long as hands stay out over the clothes, but other than that you're on your own."

There's a long pause then Santana says "But, I thought…" before snapping her mouth shut again.

"Thought what?" Quinn asks.

"Nothing."

Quinn sighs, "Don't do that San. I'm one of your best friends and you know you can ask me anything. So go on, ask what you were going to ask."

"It's just…" Santana begins a little hesitantly, "I thought you were attracted to me."

Quinn looks up suddenly, trying to keep the surprise from her features. "No Santana I'm not. And really, do you think that would help? If I was attracted to you do you think I'd like watching you fuck someone else?"

"Is it because of my… you know?" Santana asks.

"No" Quinn says quickly, "It has nothing to do with that, you should know me well enough by now to know that would never make a difference." Quinn sighs when she sees Santana's dubious expression. "Look, I'm not attracted to you, I'm not attracted to Rachel and I'm not attracted to, say, Naya Rivera or Lea Michele. I am attracted to Brittany and the likes of Heather Morris and Dianna Agron. Do you see the difference?"

Santana seems to think about it for a moment, "Leggy blondes?"

"Exactly, you're just not my type. But you're still a very beautiful girl Santana, every inch of you."

"But what about those times you invited me to join you and Britt? And the plan you and Britt cooked up for my first time?"

"Newsflash Santana, you don't have to be attracted to someone to have sex with them." Quinn chuckles at the expression on the Latina's face, "And if that surprises you then Rachel is a very lucky girl indeed."

"I love her." Santana says.

Quinn smiles. "I know. I see it every time you look at her and every time she looks at you I can see she loves you as well. But as I was saying, you know full well why Britt and I cooked up that little scheme and why we invited you to join us. You deserved a first time that was special, an experience where you didn't have to worry what the girl would do once she found out about you, where you and your body would be accepted and worshiped as it deserves to be. I may not be attracted to you Santana and I'm not in love with you, but I do love you and if Britt or I could give you that experience then we were more than willing to do so."

"That's…" Santana begins, not exactly sure what it was.

"Yeah, I know. Best not to think about it too much." Quinn agrees.

"So, where does this leave us?" Santana asks.

"With me not doing your nude shots and praying you keep your natural urges contained to the bedroom as much as possible." Quinn replies.

"Come on Q, you know there's no one else we'd trust to do this."

"That doesn't work on me San."

"What?"

"Your pout. I can't resist Britt's pout but yours, not so much." Quinn says "And don't even think of roping Britt in to persuade me to help you, it's not going to happen."

Santana sighs and Quinn rolls her eyes at the Latina, "Okay, this is what I'm going to do. I'll do the clothed shots and then I'll lend you my tripod, camera and remote control, which you will sanitize before returning to me. I'll teach you how to use the camera, I'll show you how to link it up to your laptop of television to get a live preview of what the camera is pointing at and the photo it just took. And I'll even help you set the camera up while you're both dressed to get decent photos with the room lighting. But after that you're on your own. Oh, and you can supply your own memory card too, I don't want to accidentally come across those photos on my camera. How does that sound?"

"Is that the best I'm going to get?"

"Definitely."

"Fine, I'll take it." Santana agrees, "I'll let you know when we want to do the first set. It'll probably be some evening this week."

"Fine" Quinn agrees.

For a few minutes Santana eats in silence making her way through the stack of waffles and bacon on her plate while Quinn works on a new batch for Britt and Rachel, the sound of sizzling and cutlery all that can be heard.

"Can you still help me with Britt's stuff after school today?" Quinn asks.

"Sure, are you going immediately after Cheerios practice?"

Quinn nods, "Yeah, I want to get Britt's stuff out of the house as soon as possible. That dolls house is irreplaceable and I don't want the bitch getting it into her head to do something to it even though it's in Britt's Mom's room. Are you going to bring the SUV?"

"I'm not touching that car until I know where it came from." Santana says, "It could be stolen or a drug dealers or something."

"Do you want to be stopped by the cops and arrested and have everything in the back, including Britt's dolls house, confiscated? Or worse if it's some bad guy's car and they see us?"

"Um, yeah…" Quinn says thoughtfully, "Britt would not like that, she loves that dolls house. Best leave the SUV at home."

"So what are we doing about Sasha?" Santana asks.

"I don't know San, with everything going on over there, maybe we'd be best just leaving it."

"Q, if it had been a once off since her Mom got ill I might agree with you." Santana says, "But from what you and Britt said, she's been like this for ages and it's only gotten worse since her Mom's illness. How many times do you think she's done something similar that we just don't know about?"

Quinn runs a hand through her hair, "Okay fine, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, I had thought about…" Santana begins but is interrupted by Quinn.

"Morning Britt" the blonde says as she sees her girlfriend walking into the kitchen, "Breakfast's ready."

"Thanks Baby." Britt replies accepting the offered plate, "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing important Britt." Santana says then looks at Quinn, "We'll finish this discussion later." When the blonde nods the Latina pushes herself up from the table, "Well if I'm lucky, Rachel will still be in the shower and I'm off to find out. You two behave down here and don't do anything I wouldn't do." She winks at Quinn and heads upstairs.

"That doesn't rule out much." Quinn mutters.

* * *

Lunch time found Santana sitting alone on the bleachers by the football field not watching the players running around the pitch in front of her. Quinn had been called into a meeting with Coach Sue about something and given the bad mood they had seen the woman display that morning in the hallways, Santana was happy that her presence was not required.

Rachel had finally realized they were only a four or five weeks from Nationals and was ensconced in the auditorium with Britt preparing a song and dance number she was going to present to the glee club next week in the hope it gets them motivated to get their set list together and in the hope it will end her a solo. Santana had wanted to stay and watch or maybe even help out, but Rachel had literally chased her out of the auditorium because she claimed she wanted it to be a surprise. The Latina wasn't particularly disappointed by this because, as much as she liked to watch Rachel rehearse, she missed watching Rachel perform a new song perfectly with apparently no effort or practice.

So she had grabbed something to eat from the cafeteria and went to find somewhere she could find some peace and quiet. The quad had been too busy, all the tables in use and kid even sitting on the cold concrete of the stairs and while Santana considered going to sit in her car for a while, or even driving out of school, something had drawn her over to the sports field. She had found the bleachers empty with only the jocks on the field for company and they were busy with their practice to bother her.

Santana pulls out a small sketch book she keeps in her school bag and opens it to a new page. The discussion she had had with Quinn the previous day about proposing to Rachel had stuck in her head and she had found herself lying in bed the previous night thinking about doing just that, going down on one knee somewhere special and asking Rachel to be with her forever.

She counted back to the day she had asked Rachel to be her girlfriend and was surprised to find it was only just over two months ago. Was it too soon to ask her? She had basically already told the diva that she was planning on spending her life with her the night the four of them had gone to Breadsticks together and the diva hadn't exactly objected to the idea. And if Quinn had seen Rachel trying the ring Santana had given her on her other hand…

Maybe it wasn't too soon after all. The thought of proposing left Santana with a warm excited feeling inside and that night, before she had fallen asleep, she had planned out a lot of the details in her mind already.

But she had one problem. Most people obtained an engagement ring to give to their partner one of two ways. Either there was one handed down through the family from mother to daughter for generations or the prospective suitor saves up for months or maybe years and buys one. Santana's family wasn't the handing down type, the only way she'd get her mother's ring off of her finger would involve the use of a hacksaw, and buying a diamond ring lost something when you could walk into any store in the town and buy a tray of them pretty much without blinking.

Santana wanted the ring to mean something, something more than just a promise to spend their lives together obviously, and the only way she could think of doing that was to design a ring that would be completely unique, a one of a kind piece for a one of a kind girl.

It wouldn't be the first time she had designed a piece of jewellery, her sketch book was full of designs in every stage from basic outline to completed and she had even had some of them made up by a local jeweler that made custom pieces. But this would be special not just for who it was for but for what it represented, the first and probably last engagement ring she would design and one that encapsulated both of them and the promise they would make each other in one stylish ring.

She started out with a few different ideas but very quickly focused on one. Two heart shaped diamond, one carat each would be a nice size she thinks, mounted side by side across the finger with the point of one diamond about half way up the side of the other. A simple band, white gold or platinum since Santana always thought yellow gold looked tacky, is attached to the back of one diamond mounting, runs out from the top of the heart to wrap around the finger and terminate behind the other diamond. One diamond has Rachel's birthstone nestled at the top of the heart while the other has Santana's birthstone.

Two hearts, one representing Santana and the other representing Rachel, locked together for eternity. It's simple, meaningful and Santana thinks it will look beautiful on Rachel's finger.

She was so engrossed in her design and deciding what the inscription should be on the inside of the ring band that she doesn't notice someone approach.

"That's beautiful. Is that for Rachel?" a female voice asks.

Santana automatically slams the notepad shut then grimaces realizing she'd pretty much confirmed the girl's supposition even if she hadn't wanted to. She looks up to find a brunette in a Cheerios uniform standing over her and she has to squint against the sun to see her face. She's one of the new kids that started this year, not even trusted enough to have made it into the pyramid yet, and Santana should know her name. Marilyn or Mariah or something like that.

"Marley" the girl says with a grin, "That's the name that you're trying to remember."

"Right, well it's none of your business actually and if you mention it to anyone, I'll make sure you lose that uniform." Santana snarks back.

"Don't worry" Marley says as she sits on the bleacher next to Santana, "I won't tell anyone. And I think it's amazingly romantic that you're designing her ring specially."

"Did you miss the part where I said it's none of your business?" Santana demands, "And who gave you permission to sit down?"

"You'll want to hear what I have to say Santana. Normally I'd talk to Brittany but I can't find her right now and I don't think this can wait."

"She's in the auditorium with Rachel, and why would you want to talk to Britt?"

If Quinn found out that this girl was seeking Britt out for something, like maybe trying to take advantage of her, then the girl was in for a world of pain. And since Santana was Quinn and Britt's best friend, Quinn would find out.

"Do you really think most people tell her stuff they don't want you and Quinn to know? The students around here aren't stupid Santana and neither is Britt." Marley says confidently and Santana finds herself nodding, "So there are a few of us who discreetly keep her up to date with the important rumors that are going around."

"Wait" Santana says, "Are you saying that Britt has a secret network of informers in the school?"

Marley nods, "In pretty much every clique and group in the school as far as I can tell, though obviously we don't all know each other. How else do you think she finds stuff out so quickly?"

Santana doesn't have an answer for that one, she had just assumed that people talked to Britt or that she used that damn pout that seemed to work so effortlessly on Quinn, Rachel and herself to get the information she was after. She never once thought that she had cultivated a secret network of students to keep her informed. Suddenly Santana wouldn't be surprised if Britt declared she was going to work for the CIA someday.

"So what exactly do you think is so important that you have to bother me about?" Santana demands.

"There's a rumor going about…" Marley starts the trails off looking uncertain.

"I kind of figured that out Marley. So spit it out, I'm not about to kill the apparently valuable messenger."

"Well, it's about you."

"And that's not exactly a surprise either." Santana grumbles, "Tell me something I couldn't have guessed."

"I'm sorry" Marley says as she looks around carefully for a moment, even checking through the slats to make sure no one was standing beneath them bleachers, "There's no easy way to say this. The rumor is that you're different, that… that you have a penis and that it was you that got Rachel pregnant."

Part of Santana isn't surprised at this revelation; she has been a little impressed that Wheezy and Porcelain have managed to keep their mouths shut for as long as they have and honestly there were others in the Glee club that could have let her secret out without actually meaning to. But the majority of Santana was pissed off, split between wanting to hunt down and hurt the person responsible for the rumor, accidental or not, and running home to hide under her comforter and stay there until she could book passage out of the dead-end town.

Instead she remains where she is, sketchbook forgotten for the moment in her lap and hands locked around the metal bench she sits on, takes a deep breath and asks the questions that she now needs to know the answers to.

"Who's talking and how far has it gone?" She asks and surprises herself at how calm she sounds.

"I'm only heard it from some of the Cheerios though I wouldn't be surprised if the rumor has reached all of us in a little while, by this afternoon's practice at the latest I would have said."

"And the reaction?"

Marley shrugs, "Most of them seem to think it's just a malicious joke, someone just trying to get their own back on you just like you did with… um…"

"Rachel when I used to call her Man Hands and RuPaul." Santana finishes the thought when Marley goes silent.

"Some are wondering how something like that could even happen, you can guess most of the theories but others are rather outlandish. Some are trying to work out how to use the rumor to their advantage, to oust you from the top of the social pyramid as it were. And the rest are sheep."

"Sheep?"

"They hear the rumor, they believe it and they react to it. Thinking never seems to enter the equation."

"And how are they reacting?" Santana asks with morbid curiosity.

"About as you'd expect. Disgust, ridicule and contempt." Marley supplies as she stands and straightens her skirt, "I haven't heard anyone planning anything yet, but if I do I'll let you or Britt know."

Santana just nods as she watches the brunette walks away.

* * *

It appeared that the football team hadn't heard the rumor yet because Santana was able to rope two of them into her plan pretty easily. They seemed excited about the task which was pretty pathetic when you thought about it, but Santana didn't really care as long as they got the job done. The targets weren't hard to find either and Santana was now leaning against a random locker just along the corridor from where the pair was standing gossiping, waiting for her two henchmen to show up after she had texted them the targets location.

Thankfully it didn't take long for the goons to appear at the other end of the corridor. Lunch was just about over and Santana didn't want to miss this opportunity due to bad timing, she would rather her targets just be starting to clean themselves up when the bell rang rather than heading to class. She watches with a smirk as the two football players approach, their targets oblivious to the impending soaking since they had gotten so used to not having slushies thrown in their faces over the last few months. Hopefully they still brought spare clothes with them but honestly Santana doubted she would care if they didn't.

And then with two splashes and two very girly screams the jocks jobs were done and all that was left was Santana's part. She pushes herself up off of the locker she was leaning against and stalks over to where Mercedes and Kurt stood shocked and dripping in the corridor.

"I warned you what would happen." She snarls at the pair as she walks past, "My first stop."

* * *

Rachel was a little concerned. Actually that was an understatement, Rachel was very worried. She hadn't seen Santana since she had chased the girl out of the auditorium at lunch time and while Santana did have a free period last thing on a Thursday afternoon, the Latina would always meet her after the her math class so they could walk together to her last class of the day. Then would meet at Rachel's locker for a few minutes before they would split up, Rachel heading to the bleachers or gym to watch the Cheerios practice while Santana headed to the locker room to change.

Except today, for the first time Rachel could remember since they got together, Santana hadn't been waiting at the door of her math class at the end of the period and she hadn't been leaning on the locker next to Rachel's before Cheerios practice. What was even more worrying was that the Latina was tempting the wrath of Coach Sylvester by not turning up to Cheerios practice either, Quinn had texted Rachel when it became obvious the Latina wasn't there. Quinn was going to cover for Santana but that was the least of Rachel's problems right now.

She'd heard about Mercedes and Kurt being slushied near the end of the lunch break, not only from a few of the eye witnesses that were worried about Santana returning to her old pre-Rachel ways, but very loudly and at great length from the two victims themselves. Kurt still had a change of clothing in his locker but Mercedes had not been so lucky and while Rachel could lend her cleaning supplies, none of her clothes would fit which meant that Mercedes had ended up being excused for the afternoon to go home and change.

The event itself had worried Rachel though. She would admit that Santana had seemed a little thoughtful that morning, but she had shown no intention of returning to her old bullying ways. The Latina had turned up at each of Rachel's classes and walked her to her next class, carrying her books of course as she always did. Even at lunch time, when Rachel had last seen her, the Latina had seemed okay. For a while Rachel thought that chasing her out of the auditorium may have been the trigger to whatever had happened but even then Santana had been okay, laughing as the diva had shooed her out of the room and telling Rachel that she would look forward to seeing the final performance.

So Rachel had searched the school for Santana. She was pretty sure that the girl was somewhere in the building or grounds since her car was still parked in her spot in the student's car park, though if the Latina had left the school Rachel wasn't sure where to begin looking for her. The diva had tried calling and texting her girlfriend of course and had received no reply, which just made her even more concerned and obviously hadn't helping in locating the other girl.

And now Rachel was standing outside the choir room having exhausted every option she could think of and for one last time she reaches for her phone and dials Santana's number. This time when the ringing sound starts it comes not only from her handset but from somewhere nearby. Rachel follows the sound until she's standing outside the door to the closet next to the choir room and after a moments thought, she gently knocks twice.

"Santana?"

The silence is only broken by the ringing coming from both her phone and the other side of the door, so she knocks again.

"Santana?" she asks slightly louder.

When she still gets no reply she tries the door to find it locked. She ends her current call and text's Quinn who arrives a few minutes later at a run and slightly out of breath with Coach Sue's master keys.

"She's in there?" Quinn asks as she unlocks the door.

"I think so."

"Want me to come in with you?"

Rachel shakes her head, "You better get back to practice Quinn. I'll take it from here. And thanks."

"Any time Rach. Let me know what happens."

Rachel waits until Quinn is out of site before opening the closet door and stepping inside, closing the door and locking it behind her. She turns to survey the small room and finds Santana curled up on the mattress that was still lying on the floor.

"Santana?"

The cheerleader doesn't move when Rachel calls her name so Rachel makes her way over to the other girl and lies down on the mattress facing her. She had expected to see Santana crying or at least evidence that she had been crying, you don't hide yourself away and curl up like the Latina was if something hadn't upset you, but Santana's eyes are dry and her makeup is pristine, she just appears to be staring off into nowhere.

"Santana?" Rachel asks, reaching out with one hand to gently run the tips of her fingers over the other girl's cheek.

Santana blinks and focuses on Rachel as if seeing her for the first time. "They know Rach."

"Who knows what honey?" Rachel asks gently.

"Everyone." Santana says, "Everyone knows, or will know, who the babies' real father is and how it is even possible."


	29. Chapter 29

Santana was pretty sure that if you looked up the definition of "Council of War" in the dictionary, you'd find a photo of the current state of her living room as an illustration. As well as herself, Rachel, Quinn and Brittany someone (namely Rachel) had invited not only Puck but Rachel's fathers. The only reason her therapist wasn't currently in the room was that she had caught on to what Rachel was up to and had relieved the diva of her phone before she could press the call button.

The reason Santana's parents weren't present was that no one actually knew where they were. Santana had given up trying to keep track of them a while ago and while they had been back in town since she had moved into her new home with Rachel, they had left again at some point in the last couple of weeks. Given they didn't bother to tell Santana when they were leaving when she lived with them she wasn't surprised to find them suddenly gone with no warning once again. The thought that she would probably be better off without them once again pushes its way into the Latina's head.

So Santana found it actually kind of nice that Rachel's fathers were so concerned that they came over as soon as the diva had called them and while it didn't make up for her parents behavior, they were certainly better role models. Right now they were sitting on the only armchair in the room, LeRoy perched on the front of the cushion while Hiram balanced on one of the arms. Santana and Rachel took one of the sofas while Puck and Quinn took the other. Britt was sitting on Quinn's lap.

When Rachel had found Santana she had laid down on the mattress with her girlfriend and made the Latina tell her everything that had happened. She had then texted Quinn to let them know where they were and they had remained there until the end of Cheerios practice. When Quinn and Britt came to get them, the first thing Rachel did was confirm with Britt that Marley was indeed one of her networks of contacts and that she was trustworthy.

Unfortunately she was, hence the Council of War.

Rachel had just finished recounting the story to everyone present in excruciating detail and even Santana cringed a little when she got to the part about slushying Mercedes and Kurt and while Rachel hadn't said anything about it, the Latina could tell she disapproved. She could also tell that Leroy and Hiram disapproved given the looks they were currently sending her way.

"Santana, I can understand you were a quite distressed by this news" Leroy says, "But I think taking it out on two innocent students, ones that are actually in Glee club with you, was a little uncalled for."

Santana shrugs but doesn't meet his gaze, "You don't understand how it works. I warned them what would happen if I heard any rumors and those two are the biggest gossipers in the school. If anyone found out that I didn't back up what I say when it's necessary I wouldn't be able to protect anyone at school."

"That's ridiculous Santana." Hiram says, "It's only High School, you make it sound like a war zone."

"That's exactly my point" Santana says finally looking up at Rachel's fathers, "If they don't respect me, if they aren't that little bit scared of me, it'll be open season on Rachel. She was already at the bottom of the social ladder before she became pregnant and it's only my reputation that's keeping her safe right now."

Hiram leveled his own gaze at Santana, "As I recall it was you and Quinn that put her there to begin with."

"Daddy! How many times have I told you, that is in the past! " Rachel interrupts, "If I have forgiven them, so should you."

"Rach, he's right" Santana days, "But that's beyond the point. I'm not going to risk Rachel getting called names, pushed around or slushied in her current state. She's already collapsed once and God knows what a slushy in the face would do to her. I will do whatever is necessary to keep her and my children safe!"

After Santana's outburst there's an uncomfortable pause before Quinn speaks, "I think what's important now is what Santana and Rachel does about the rumor."

"That's easy" Puck says, "Time to kick some ass. Don't worry Lopez, I've got your back."

"Actually I don't think it's that easy." LeRoy says, "For what I can see you have three choices." He starts ticking them off on his fingers, "One, you can confirm the rumors. Two, you can ignore them or three, you can fight them. Now I'm assuming you don't want to confirm things right now?" Santana shakes her head as LeRoy pauses, "So that leaves ignoring or fighting and either way some people are going to say whatever you pick just confirms the rumors."

Hiram nods, "If you ignore them they'll say it's a sign that the rumor is true and if you fight them, they'll say you're going after them because it's true and you are trying to hide the truth."

"So I'm screwed either way." Santana says.

"I can lay down the law, at least for the Cheerios and jocks" Quinn offers, "That would help wouldn't it?"

Hiram shakes his head, "I don't think so Quinn. Everyone knows your best friends with Santana and they'll say you're just trying to protect her."

"If I do nothing they'll take that as confirmation though." Quinn points out.

"It's going to be the same for anyone that's close to Santana." Hiram confirms.

"What about me? I could say we hooked up." Puck offers, quickly adding at Rachel's glare, "Back before you two got together I mean…"

"You already know Santana's reputation Puck" Rachel says, "And as fake as that is, if that's not protecting her already then adding one more voice to it isn't going to help."

"And besides, everyone knows your friends with Rachel so it'll be just the same thing as if Quinn did anything." LeRoy adds.

"I still think we need to find out where the rumor came from." Quinn says, "If only so we don't trust those people with any of our secrets again in the future."

LeRoy and Hiram nods. "That's fair enough" Hiram says, "As long as none of you try and take any form of retribution after you have found out."

The Council of War fails to come to any solution to the problem and eventually they all disperse to go to their respective homes. The four girls sit in near silence for most of the night watching whatever happened to be on the TV and ordering out for dinner and by the time Santana crawls into bed with Rachel that night, it's clear to her that there is something on the diva's mind.

"San? When did things change?" Rachel asks as she rolls over to face the Latina.

"I'm not sure what you mean baby."

Rachel sighs and rolls onto her back, "It doesn't matter."

"It obviously does or you wouldn't have asked." Santana says after a moment, "I'm not being obtuse Rach. I honestly don't know what you mean."

"Do you remember what you said to me that day on the bleachers?" Rachel asks, "When you begged me to let you be involved in this pregnancy?"

Santana thinks back for a moment, "I think I said quite a bit honey, I was pretty determined to be involved in everything."

"So what you said mean nothing?"

"No! I meant every word of it. I just don't know which but you are talking about."

"You said" Rachel began with a deep breath, "That you'd be willing to tell everyone that the baby was yours, that you'd put it up on your Facebook status if I wanted you to."

"Yeah, I did." Santana admits after a moment, "Is that what you want me to do? Confirm the rumor and tell everyone the babies are mine on Facebook?"

"Would you do it?" Rachel asks.

"If that's what you want Rach." Santana reaches out for her mobile phone that is sitting on the bedside cabinet and Rachel can't help but notice her hand shaking a little.

"Wait" Rachel pulls Santana back, "I don't need you to actively tell anyone San, I just don't want you to get into trouble by fighting with anyone that says anything to you or about you. I think it's best if you just ignore them. We have only just over a year left in High School and then we'll be leaving for somewhere better and as long as we have each other, we'll be fine."

"And if someone asks me straight out?"

"How you answer that kind of question is up to you San. As much as I would like you to be comfortable enough to acknowledge being the parent of our children, I really don't care what you tell them. What I do care about is you not getting into trouble because getting kicked out of school, because that won't help when you're trying to get into college."

Santana can't help but chuckle, "Rach, I really don't need to get into college. We could live the rest of our lives quite comfortably on the money my Aunt left me."

"That's no reason not to improve yourself Santana. I'm not giving up on my dreams just because I'm going to have children and I'm not going to let you give up on yours just because you happen to have money left to you. Can you honestly imagine spending the rest of your life sitting around doing nothing?"

Santana is quiet for a long time and just as Rachel is drifting off to sleep she hears the Latina whisper "I can see spending the rest of my life looking after my wife and children."

* * *

The next day all four girls head into school in Santana's car but within moments of arriving at school, Santana found herself standing outside the building on her own. Britt had been the first to leave them, heading off to poll her information sources to find out what was being said around the school. Rachel was next a few moments later, dragged away by Mike and Tina who need her help with their song for Glee club, Tina is apparently at her wits end with Mike's singing ability or lack thereof. Quinn is the last to go, looking back apologetically as she heads towards Coach Sue's office, summoned by a baby Cheerio to a meeting the Coach had suddenly found necessary.

Santana wonders if the Coach is losing it a little. Every day this week she's dragged Quinn into a meeting to discuss Nationals and each time she's had a different plan for the event. By this point Quinn has been reduced to smiling, nodding, agreeing and hoping to hell that the Coach gets her act together before they actually had to perform at the competition.

So Santana does what she does best. She puts on her best bitch face, squares her shoulders and marches into the school building as if she owns the place. The two Cheerios who just happen to be stepping out of the building as Santana approaches take one look at her expression and know better than to let the doors swing shut before she has stepped through. She graces them with a nod of appreciation before striding confidently into the building.

Santana reviews her timetable for the day in her head as she makes her way to her locker to change her books. She'll see Rachel again at Homeroom in a few minutes then she's got Spanish, an easy A for her but the school does require them to take a second language, and then she has study hall with Rachel, Britt and Quinn. Rachel and Britt have plans to be in the auditorium for that period though to work on the song Rachel is still planning to present which will give Santana a chance to talk to Quinn in the privacy of one of the study rooms in the library.

She's drawn out of her thoughts by the giggles of small group of baby Cheerios at one corridor junction not far from her locker. They are looking at her and something about the way they giggle tells her they aren't giggle at her but that doesn't stop her glaring at them. She is, however, rather surprised when a few of the girls blush deeply before they all turn and scurry away down one of the corridors. Santana watches them with a confused expression for a few moments until they turn out of sight around a corner then proceeds to her locker.

She's sure someone, probably Britt or Quinn because it's something they'd find amusing, is pranking her by constantly switching her locker code between three different values because today it takes three attempts to get the right code and she's sure it wasn't the one she used yesterday. Her books sorted out, Santana slams her locker door shut and jumps when she finds a jock that she hadn't noticed arriving leaning against the lockers next to her.

"What?" she snaps.

"Nothin' dude. Just wanted to give you props for knocking the ice queen up." The jock holds his hand up as if expecting Santana to high five him, "We couldn't work out who had gotten into her panties."

Santana stands with her mouth literally open in surprise for a moment before she snaps it shut, "Who the hell do you think you're calling Dude?" she demands but before the jock can open his mouth to reply she interrupts again, "Actually, who the hell are you calling an ice queen? And let me give you a hint, if you're talking about my girlfriend you better be done with your balls because I'm about to remove them without the aid of anesthetic."

"What? It's true though isn't it? Everyone knows she was going to wait till she was twenty five, well at least until she got an eyeful of you."

"And she's always the girl that came into celibacy club and said… No, never mind that." Santana cuts herself off and shakes her head before glaring at the jock again, "How do you even know about the twenty five years old thing?"

The jock shrugs, "Everyone knows, it's not like it's a secret." He chuckles and looks around before leaning towards Santana, "But the rumors true right? It was you that got her knocked up?"

Santana's a little surprised because this particular jock, one of the many that had claimed to have bedded her in the past, doesn't seem at all bothered by what his question is implying. But she's not about to question it and she's not about to give him an answer to his question.

She breaks out her beast second-in-charge bitch stare and gives it to him with both barrels and a sneer, "Just go away before I decide to de-ball you just for the hell of it."

It seems to work because a moment later all she can see is his back rapidly disappearing down the corridor. She leans her head against the cool metal of the locker for a moment and sighs. Today was showing all the signs of being one hell of a weird day.

* * *

Thankfully nothing else odd happened during homeroom and Spanish or in the few minutes in between and now Santana was sitting in one of the study rooms with Quinn and not studying. Instead she was working on the design for the engagement ring she was going to have commissioned for Rachel. She was trying to decide if a small band of metal wrapped around the two hearts to bind them together, like she considered herself and Rachel bound together, would look good or not.

"Q, I need a favor." Santana says.

"And if I don't help you are you going to kick me out?" Quinn asks.

"What?!" Santana says, "Where did that come from? I thought we were clear Q. My place, _our_ place, is your home now. I'm not going to kick you out."

Quinn sighs, "It was meant to be a joke San. You need to stop taking everything so literally." Santana rolls her eyes at Quinn, "So what do you need me to do anyway?" the blonde asks.

"I need you to keep Rach occupied at lunch time."

Quinn looks up from her books and eyes Santana wearily, "What are you up to Santana? Because I'm not going to lie to her so you can go beat someone up."

Santana tosses the sketch pad she's been working on face up onto the table in front of the blonde, "I'm going to arrange getting that made."

Quinn picks up the pad and turns it around, "An engagement ring?" she asks cautiously, "San, these are beautiful."

Santana nods, "What do you think, is it better with or without the extra band around the stones?"

Quinn considered both rings for a while trying to imagine what they would look like on a finger, "Without I think." She decides, "Yeah, without. That one looks nice and elegant. The one with the extra band looks too busy." She nods and looks up at Santana while handing the pad back, "When are you going to do it?"

"New York" Santana replies, "If I can get this made in time that is. Heart shaped diamonds to the quality and size I want are probably going to be hard to come by."

"And expensive no doubt. Are your parents going to help you?"

Santana shakes her head, "I haven't even told them yet, in fact you're the first person I've told. But I inherited some money when my Aunt died a few years ago. You remember Aunt Sofia?" Quinn nods and Santana continues, "Well this is worth using some of that for. And I may need some help in New York when the time comes, if you wouldn't mind."

"Britt and I would love to help San you don't even have to ask." Quinn says, "But you do realize that Rachel is the type of girl that's going to expect you to have her fathers' permission before you ask her."

Santana looks thoughtful, "You think so? I always thought she was independent, wanting to make her own mind up…"

"I think so. And anyway, you're going to need her parents and your parents' permission to actually get married." Quinn points out.

"If we get married before we're eighteen Q. Just because I'm asking her now doesn't mean we're going to rush to the alter. And it's not like we can actually get married in this damn state anyway."

"So you're going to wait a few years?" Quinn asks.

"Let's just deal with the immediate issue Q, are you going to help me at lunch time or not?"

"Sure, Britt and I will work something out."

The bell rings and both girls collect their books and head towards the study room door. Quinn gets there first but pauses when Santana says her name.

"Q, you'll be my Maid of Honor right?" the Latina asks.

Quinn looks over her shoulder at Santana and smiles, "I'd love to San."

* * *

Santana manages to make a clean get away at lunch time. She'd seen Rachel for all of about five seconds after the end of their classes before a very bubble Britt had dragged her off to do… well, Santana isn't sure what but Quinn assured her that it would keep both of them busy until the end of lunch. When Santana expressed concern that Rachel should have time to actually eat something, Quinn assured her that everything was taken care of.

So now Santana is stepping through the door to the small jewellery shop that she has visited many times in the past. The very first time she'd been here was a few years previously. She had taken a wrong turn at some point and had ended up drawn to the displays of exquisite jewellery in the shop window display. She had gone inside to look around and spent hours talking to the woman who owned the place in the process finding out that she made most of the window display items herself. Santana had been back on numerous occasions, sometimes buying something from one of the many displays and sometimes to commission a small piece for special gifts, though very few people knew how unique their gift actually was.

Rachel's ring is going to be the most expensive piece she has had made, but she'd confident that Linda, the store owner, will do a top rate job.

"Santana!" Linda's calls out before the Latina had even managed to step through the door, "It's been too long! How are you dear?"

"Good thanks Linda. How about you?"

"You know how it is Santana, battling on." Linda replies, "So what can I do for you? Just looking around or do you have something special in mind?"

"Something very special Linda." Santana says as she hands over the sketch she had settled on, "I know you always put your best into the pieces I bring you, but this is really special."

Linda looks at the sketch for a moment and the notes that surround it that Santana had added so that everything was clear. "An engagement ring." Linda observes, "Are you designing your own engagement ring?"

Santana glances around nervously, she's never had reason to discuss her sexuality with Linda and while it wasn't really a secret, she didn't exactly broadcast it either.

"Actually, it's for my girlfriend."

Linda looks at her in surprise for a moment then breaks out into a huge grin that reminds Santana of the smiles Britt wears. "We'll, whoever she is, she is one lucky young lady." Linda returns her attention to the design, "Okay, I have the birthstones and the white gold so they won't be a problem. The diamonds though…" Linda shakes her head a little, "Heart cut stones that size aren't exactly common so it's generally higher quality stones that are used, which means they aren't cheap. What sort of budget do you have?"

Santana shrugs, "Money is not an issue this time, I want to give Rachel the best I can get her."

"Santana, I don't think you understand. We could be talking tens of thousands of dollars per stone. We could probably get them cheaper if we used a man-made stone…"

"No" Santana interrupts, "I want the best and if the best is a natural stone, then that's what I want. And the price doesn't matter. If you're worried about being paid, I'm more than willing to pay a substantial down payment. The only thing that matters is how soon you can get it made."

"When do you need it by?" Linda asks.

"Three weeks from today. We're going to New York and I want to ask her there."

* * *

Santana makes it back to school about ten minutes before the end of lunch. Linda had agreed to make the ring and to try and get it done in the time frame the Latina had specified, it was sourcing the diamonds that would take the most time. Santana was fairly sure that it would get done in time, Linda had never let her down yet and she did have a little longer than the time frame she had given the jeweler just in case there were delays. Still she would be happy when she actually had the ring in her pocket.

When she makes it to her locker she notes that Rachel isn't anywhere in sight, Santana assumes that Britt is still keeping her busy. So she opens her locker, getting the code right the first time this time, and pulls out her books for her afternoon classes. When she slams the locker shut she is again surprised by a silent arrival, this time of one of the senior Cheerios.

"Jennifer." Santana acknowledges the other girls presence. When the other girl doesn't say anything Santana adds "Is there something you want?"

"A date." Jennifer says, "Go out with me tonight."

Santana's pretty sure her eyes are out on stalks and her jaw is resting on the floor right now. "Excuse me?!" She demands.

"You heard. I want a date. Then maybe we can go back to my place and fool around a little."

Santana is pretty sure she's dreaming right now, because Jennifer has never looked at her twice even after she came out and has never shown any interest in girls in general. She actually considers pinching herself to find out if she's sleeping or not.

"Okay first, I have a girlfriend and second you're not gay." Santana says.

"First, that's just Berry and do you really think she's going to walk out on you if you play around a little? She's not going to find anyone else while she's pregnant and you've got a reputation to maintain you know. And second, if the rumors are true, you're not exactly all girl."

Santana is really pissed off right now and she hasn't even registered the second part of what Jennifer has said since she immediately focused on what the girl said about Rachel. "You listen to me, unlike you I apparently have some standards and I'm not about to cheat on my girlfriend whether she's pregnant or not and whether she could find anyone else or not. Some of us have standard and if you need to look up the meaning of that particular word, I can lend you a dictionary!"

Jennifer's eyes twinkle at Santana's response, "So it's true isn't it? You are packing something you shouldn't have? Come on San, some of us are dying to know the truth." Jennifer reaches out a fingertip and runs it down Santana's arm, "Think of all the girls that would be lining up to have you fuck them San. You are some girls' dream you know. All soft and smooth and not hairy and hard like guys, well except the one place it counts. And we all know just how well you can use that."

Linda has stepped closer to a stunned Santana as she talks and suddenly the Latina is aware of a hand sliding up her inner thigh. The next moment there's a crash as she slams the other girl against the lockers with the hand that had just been on Santana's thigh now halfway up the other girls back.

"Santana!" Rachel's voice echoes down the corridor followed by rapid steps as the diva runs towards them, "I told you I don't want you fighting and getting into trouble."

"She stuck her hand up my skirt Rach" Santana says though gritted teeth, "That's sexual assault and I have a right to defend myself."

"Oh" Rachel says, her head tilting to one side as she considered the situation, "Fair enough. Carry on."

Today was indeed turning out to be a very weird day.


	30. Chapter 30

The day's weirdness quotient did not reduce as time proceeded. This was Rachel's way of saying, later on that night when all was said and done, that things had stayed weird or gotten weirder for the rest of the day. Santana had sent Jennifer off with only a sprained wrist. She had been tempted to do worse but she had been worried about what Coach Sue would do if her actions forced the coach to eject Jennifer from the team. In the end Jennifer's injury was sufficient to put her on the bench for three weeks and earn her the coach's anger but meant she'd be fit in time for Nationals.

No one else made the mistake of trying to put their hands on Santana.

It didn't stop people from approaching her though. They were unmolested as Santana walked Rachel to her next class at the end of lunch but as soon as they had went their separate ways the Latina found more admirers waiting for her. The first was just down the corridor from Rachel's class, it might actually have been at the girl's locker since a locker door slammed shut just before she heard her name being called.

Santana had been too distracted by thoughts of how she was going to spend her weekend with Rachel and had automatically turned towards the girl when she had heard her name being called out, a mistake she wouldn't make for the rest of the day, not that it would help any. In this case Santana vaguely knew the blonde girl as a senior from her AP classes but since the girl wasn't a Cheerio that was all Santana knew. She couldn't even remember the girls name off the top of her head, something beginning with B maybe, so instead of saying anything she just raises an eyebrow.

"Hi" the girl says, obviously expecting a response from Santana. When she doesn't get one she continues a little more nervously, "I-I was wondering if you were busy on Saturday, I thought maybe we could catch a movie?"

"Look Barbie…" Santana takes a shot at a name, since the girl looks like one.

"Beverly" The girl supplies.

"Whatever." Santana almost snarls at the girl, "My plans for Saturday look like this." She ticks off items in her fingers, "Saturday morning I have a Lamaze class with my pregnant girlfriend. Then we have lunch with a nice couple we met at Lamaze class. Our afternoon includes a visit to the doctor for Rachel's check-up and a trip to the mall to do some shopping. Our evening will hopefully consist of take-out and curling up on the sofa to watch a movie or two. Together. Do you get my point?"

Beverly looks a little shell shocked at Santana's rant and just stands there with her mouth hanging slightly open when the Latina is done. Santana rolls her eyes, turns on her heel and marches off down the corridor. The next time she's approached, two of the baby Cheerios that had giggled and blushed that morning, Santana just snarls "Don't" at them without slowing down. They take the hint and scurry off in the opposite direction. When Santana exits her second last class of the day, not counting Glee, she is surprised to be stopped in the corridor by Karofsky.

"So, um…" he starts.

"Oh hell no, no me gusta!" Santana almost yells at him as she drags him into a nearby empty classroom and slams the door, "What the hell Karofsky, you're gay!"

"Santana!" Karofsky automatically checks for anyone that could have heard even though the room is empty, "Look, my folks don't know and they've been bugging me about bringing home a nice girl. I just thought…"

"What? That I could be the nice girl you present to your parents and the dick that gets shoved up your ass?" Santana smirks as Karofsky actually blushes then she sighs, "Look Dave, I know you've got problems with your parents and you know that those of us that know about you are here for you if you need to talk. But I'm not going to leave or cheat on Rachel. She's my girlfriend and she's carrying my children Dave, I can't and won't walk away from that."

Dave looks up at her questioningly and Santana nods, "Yeah, the rumor is true but that's not the point. You only have a year and a bit before you're out of this town. Once you get to college you'll be able to be who you are but in the meantime, either suck up your parents pestering or find a girl that will agree to be your beard. I'm sure you can find someone who'll love to be treated like a lady and not pestered for sex in return."

Karofsky nods, "Yeah, thanks Santana. And sorry."

"Okay" Santana says as she reaches for the door, "Oh and Karofsky? If you tell anyone about _anything_ we talked about just now, I will make sure your parents find out. Understand?"

Karofsky nods and Santana leaves the room, now late for picking up Rachel. When she gets to the diva's class, pointedly ignoring anyone that tried to approach her on the way, the diva is standing just outside the room door looking around and wearing a worried expression which melts to relief when she sees Santana approach.

"You're late San."

"Sorry" Santana apologies, "I just had a bit of a run in with Karofsky."

"Are you okay?" Rachel asks obviously worried.

"He just needed some advice on how to deal with his parents." Santana says

"Have the found out?"

"Not yet. He's trying to keep it that way."

As normal they were heading towards Santana's locker as they talked so that the Latina could switch out her books. In theory she could have done like Rachel and gotten the books she needed for her afternoon classes during lunch, but it was already a habit to head back to her locker before she starting dating Rachel and it was also an excuse to spend more time with the girl. If they went directly to Rachel's class, the diva would head to her seat after a quick kiss and Santana would have to head to her own class. However when they reached Santana's locker, the Latina rolled her eyes.

"Not you too Tina." She groans.

"What?" the obviously confused girl asks, "I wanted to ask Rachel something about a song…"

By the time Santana has breathed a sigh of relief, Rachel and Tina are deep in conversation about something so the Latina turns to her locker to do the thing with her books and almost jumps through the ceiling when a pair of arms close around her waist. Her very short struggle to free herself ends when she recognizes Britt's laugh in her ear and the arms are removed.

"Gotcha!" Britt giggles at her.

"Don't do that Britt, please." Santana begs, "I've already hurt one Cheerio today and I don't want to accidentally hurt you." Santana shakes her head, "I wish I knew what had brought the freaky out in so many people today."

"I know" Britt offers as she bounces a little on the spot, apparently happy to be able to help, "I've been asking around and I know what's going on."

That got the attention of Rachel and Quinn as well as Santana and as if driven by the same thought they all make for the nearest empty classroom, Quinn shutting the door behind her once they are all inside.

"So, what's causing the crazy Britt?" Santana asks as she perches on one of the tables.

"Someone's running a pool. Basically the first person that can prove that a certain rumor is true or false takes the pot which was, when I found out about it, running somewhere around the eight hundred dollar mark. Oh, and it's a twenty dollar buy-in."

"Do I need to ask what rumor they are trying to prove?" Santana asks.

Britt shrugs, "I think you can probably guess."

The Latina drops her head into her hands, "Well, that explains things." She says.

"And it also means there are at least forty people out there trying to get something that proves said rumor." Rachel points out.

"And her I thought they were attracted to my magnetic personality." Santana tries to joke but it comes out a little flat.

"So who's running the pool Britt?" Quinn asks.

The blonde shrugs, "I don't know. No one I've talked to yet is involved in the pool and whoever is running it is managing to keep a low profile."

"So what can we do?" Rachel asks after a moment of silence.

Just at that moment the bell goes off and Santana sighs, jumping down off of the table she's been sitting on. "I guess we go to class and work out what to do later."

* * *

It was with a sigh of relief that Santana escorted Rachel into the sanctuary of the choir room when it was time for Glee, at least here she wouldn't be pestered by people wanting to win the pool, hopefully. Despite being a few minutes late for her previous class she had still arrived before the teacher and with enough time to be approached by two different people in her class. She had glared at them long enough to make them go away and then spent the period totally ignoring whatever it had been that the teacher was trying to teach, she just wasn't in the mood.

Here at least in the safety of the choir room, she knew she wouldn't get annoyed by anyone wanting to win some quick cash and maybe, with a few well places comments, she could get some insight into how the rumor had escaped into the wild. Someone is this room had to be responsible, the only other people that knew were her doctor, Rachel's parents, her own parents and Coach Sue.

Britt hadn't been able to trace back the source of the rumor yet and while it was possible that Sue may well have come up with some plan to benefit from the rumor, Santana thought it more probable that someone in the Glee club, deliberately or otherwise, let the information slip. And she was going to find out who that had been.

Santana crosses the room and drops down into her normal seat, pulling Rachel down into her lap and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend so that her hands rested on Rachel's baby bump. The diva sighs happily as she leans back against Santana and the Latina wonders how soon they would be able to feel the babies move. Rachel would probably be able to feel things before she would since the babies were inside her, but the Latina couldn't wait until she could place her hands on the bump and feel her babies kick. She'd have to ask the doctor about that when they went to their appointment on Saturday.

"Okay everyone, I have some news about our trip to Nationals" Mr Shue says as he enters the choir room, late as normal. "Now as you all know, Nationals is in New York this year. Now I doubt we'll be able to afford flights as well as hotels rooms but I have arranged for us to borrow one of the school buses and it's only a nine hour drive."

Mr Shue tries to sound upbeat but everyone else groans at the news. Nine hours on one of the rickety school buses would be an absolute nightmare just to save some money by not flying.

"Try twelve hours while we stop for Rachel to pee." Mercedes says who shrugs at Santana and Quinn's glares, "Well, it's true isn't it?"

"That's beyond the point Mercedes" Rachel says, "It's hardly my fault that I need to use the restroom more often than I used to. And besides Mr Shue" Rachel adds as she turns back to the teacher, "Nine hours or more in a school bus are hardly going to be conductive to an exemplary performance in the competition; we really should consider more speedy methods of transportation."

"Um…" Mr Shue says.

Quinn sigh, "What she means is that no one is going to be any good after nine hours or more on a bus. We need to fly."

"Well return plane tickets would cost about five hundred dollars, each. If you think you can raise that amount of money then we can fly, but right now the school isn't about to cover the cost for us."

"What about the hotel?" Kurt asks.

"To find something in our price range I've had to go with something basic and we'll have to squeeze in a little, but at least it'll be clean and near the theater being used by the competition." Mr Shue answers.

There are more groans followed immediately by ideas for raising the money for flights and rooms in a proper hotel but Santana was pretty sure that bake sales and singing in the classrooms or even at the mall for donations were going to help much. Someone suggested looking for sponsorship from local businesses but Mr Shue reminded them about the fiasco after the bed store advert and pointed out the same would apply to sponsorship. Rachel suggested a concert which Santana would have to admit was a good idea, but there really wasn't enough time to put together a concert and sell tickets.

More importantly, Santana did not want Rachel's memory of her proposal to be sullied by a terrible journey to and from New York and being crammed in to a cut price, crappy hotel.

She gives the diva in her lap a little squeeze, "Don't worry babe, I'll take care of everything" Santana whispers into Rachel's ear.

"What do you have planned?" Rachel asks as she looks at Santana with suspicion.

Santana smirks, "You'll see."

"Okay everyone" Mr Shue interrupts the discussions once more, "Lets concentrate on the set list for the competition. We only have a few weeks to perfect everything, so we need to get a move on."

"I wonder whose fault that is." Santana mutters.

Quinn agrees, "I never understood why he always left it so late."

"And this is early!"

"So" Mr Shue continues, "Does anyone have any ideas?"

Rachel immediately sits up in Santana's lap, "Actually I've been working on a song for the solo…"

"Here we go again!" Mercedes interrupts, "Why don't you give someone else a shot at the spotlight for a change? In your state you should be hiding in the back and trying not to be noticed."

Santana was about to come to Rachel's defense when she's stopped by the diva's hand on hers. The look Santana see's Rachel turn on Mercedes would have made lesser people, or maybe smarter people, run away.

"I can assure you Mercedes that my condition has had no effect on my singing ability. Pregnant or not, I'm still the best singer this club has." Rachel declares confidently.

"And they're going to take one look at that big belly of yours and send us directly to last place." Mercedes snarks.

"Whatever the current size of my belly" Rachel says with a surprisingly even tone, "It is still significantly smaller than yours." There's a pause and Rachel sighs at the look of hurt on Mercedes face, "Look Mercedes, I've always respected how comfortable you are in your own body and under normal circumstances I would never consider insulting you about it. But if you insist in insulting the state of my body while it's doing something as amazing as growing not one but two new lives, then you've declared open season."

Santana breaks the uncomfortable silence that falls after Rachel's statement. "But Rachel is right, we need to be at our best of we're going to succeed in New York and we're going to need our best singers up front. Like it or not and pregnant or not, that is Rachel. It may be a risk that one of the judges is prejudice against a group led by a pregnant girl, but it's a certainty that we won't win if Rachel's talent is hidden at the back of the stage."

"So what about the duet?" Kurt asks.

"I suggest we have a sing off, allowing any pair that wants to try out." Rachel says, "And then the rest of us will vote."

That suggestion seemed to get approval from everyone and Santana could already see some people looking around to work out who they were going to ask to sing with them. Santana wasn't planning anything, as long as she got to see Rachel blow everyone away with her solo, she'd be happy.

"So if everyone could be ready with their duets by, let's say Wednesday next week" Mr Shue says, "And if everyone could bring suggestions for our group number on Monday, we can start practicing."

Minutes later Santana and Rachel are settling in to Santana's car.

"So, home?" Rachel asks.

"Actually, I thought we could stop by the Israel house."

"Why?" Rachel asks suspiciously, "Santana, if you've found out that Jacob is running that pool or is responsible for the rumors then we are going nowhere near his house. I'm not going to let you kill him."

"Actually, I've no idea who started the rumor or who's running the pool. Yet." Santana admits, "No, I was thinking that Jewfro might be able to help us out. What do you think about…?"

* * *

They had gotten used to the weekly check-ups at the doctor's office by now. Normally they went in as soon as they got out of Glee on Wednesdays but this week an apparent outbreak of something amongst the kids of Lima had forced all routine appointments to be rescheduled which meant that Santana and Rachel found themselves waiting for the doctor in the room with the sonogram machine on Saturday afternoon. The doctor's normal list of questions had been answered, the normal examination done and blood taken for analysis and now they were waiting to hear their babies heartbeat's once more.

Rachel was already on the bed but when the doctor had reached for the gel to apply to the diva's stomach, she had come up with an empty container instead and so had gone off in search of a replacement from their storage room. Rachel had pulled her clothes back down over her stomach and, once the doctor had closed the door behind her, sighed dramatically.

Santana rolled her eyes.

"I saw that" Rachel said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure the doc heard you even through the door." Santana teased.

"I'm just of the opinion that, since they knew we were coming in this afternoon, they should have checked that they had enough on hand."

Just as Santana was about to reply, the room door opens again and the doctor reappears with a new bottle of gel in her hand.

"Sorry about that. Someone should have checked the supplies in here this morning. This will be cold."

Rachel gives Santana a triumphant look as she pulls up her top again and then jumps slightly and lets out a little "eek" as the cool gel comes into contact with her skin. Santana chuckles from her seat which earns her a glare from Rachel. The doctor takes some time to examine the babies from multiple angles just like she does every visit before flicking the switch that let them hear the heartbeat of first one child and then the other. The sound of the two rapid heartbeats always left both Santana and Rachel wearing massive smiles.

"Okay" the doctor said as she passed over the usually sonogram images and DVD to Santana while Rachel cleaned up the gel, "I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that everything is progressing perfectly normally. Both babies are progressing well and look perfectly healthy and happy." The doctor smiles as she makes some notes in Rachel's file, "And they were behaving themselves as well this week, so if you would like to know, I can tell you what gender your babies are going to be."

"Yes!" replies an excited Rachel.

"No!" Santana says almost as loudly.

Both the doctor and Rachel look at Santana who can feel her face heating up under their examination. The Latina had done a little reading on Jewish customs relating to child birth and she had assumed that Rachel wouldn't want to know the gender before the birth, but that wasn't the reason she had said no.

"Why don't you want to know Baby?" Rachel asks kindly.

Santana takes a breath, "Because there's a fifty percent chance that the answer won't tell us anything." Rachel looks at her blankly and Santana sighs, "Rach, if they doc says their boys, that doesn't tell us anything because they could be like me" she explains.

Rachel's expression must have changed because Santana's eyes close and her head turns away as if she's been slapped. "I'm sorry" the Latina whispers.

"Sorry…? What for?" Rachel asks in genuine confusion.

"For doing this to you Rach. I get it, your horrified by the thought our babies could be like me. It's okay, I understand but…"

"Oh God Santana, no!" Rachel interrupts, "It's not that, I'm not horrified by that at all. It was the thought I could have been carrying quads! It's going to be hard enough carrying and delivering twins, but four? Baby, if it does turn out that our babies are like you I'll love them just as much and I'll be thankful that I didn't have to give birth to four of them."

"Honestly?" Santana asks.

"One hundred percent honestly San." Rachel rests her hand on her stomach, "These are my babies too Santana and I'll love them no matter what. I just want them both to be healthy, anything else doesn't matter."

Santana swallows and nods and Rachel turns back to the doctor. "Is there any way if we can tell if the babies are like Santana before they are borne?" she asks.

"In theory yes. You remember the test I mentioned when there was the risk of Tay-Sachs?" When both girls nod she continues, "Well, I could do a similar test to determine gender but I'd prefer not to. Any test like that carries a risk and for situations where a condition is life threatening it's a balance between risking the test and risking not knowing the result. In this particular case, where we know the condition isn't life threatening, the risk of doing the test outweighs the benefit of knowing the answer."

"How about after they are borne" Rachel asks, "How soon can you do a test then?"

"Almost immediately if you decide it's necessary. There's virtually no risk from taking a little blood at that point, assuming both are healthy." Both girls nod and the doctor looks from one to the other, "So, would you like to know?"

Rachel looks at Santana who shrugs, before turning back to the doctor. "No, I think we'll wait for the moment."

"Okay" the doc says as she writes something in Rachel's file. "The babies genders are recorded in your file Rachel, along with a note that neither of you know at the moment. If you change your mind, give us a call and one of the nurses can check the file for you."

"Thank you doctor."

* * *

"Santana!" Hiram declares in surprise as he throws open his front door late on Saturday night, "To what do we owe this pleasure? And where's my baby girl?"

"She's back at the house, she thinks I've just ran out to get some snacks." Santana says as she steps inside and closes the door behind her.

"And I see you're on your way back." Hiram says as he eyes the bag Santana is carrying, "Is that vegan ice cream?"

Santana manages to grin even though her heart is thundering in her chest and she feels like she's about to throw up. But she fishes out the container of Hiram's favourite ice cream she had bought because she knew he'd ask, "Not that I'm buttering you up or anything" she says as she hands over the ice cream.

Hiram raises an eyebrow as he accepts the tub, "Now I'm worried. What are you after?" he jokes.

"Is LeRoy around?"

"Through here" the other Berry man calls from the living room.

They step through into the living room and Santana perches nervously on the edge of one sofa while Hiram joins his husband on the other.

"So, what has you sneaking out to come visit us Santana?" Hiram asks.

Santana's eyes seem to be glued to her hands where they fiddle with the handles of the bag of snacks she had brought with her. After a moment she sighs, "Maybe I should have thought through what I was going to say before I came here" she says more to herself than anyone else. "Look, I love Rachel. She's beautiful, kind, caring, a little self-centered, occasionally annoying, usually loud, generally opinionated, just a little bit spoilt, loves Musical Theater way too much to be healthy, is thoughtful, loyal, loving and is having my babies." Finally Santana manages to look up at Hiram and LeRoy, "And I want to marry her."

The non-response her declaration receives from Hiram and LeRoy throws Santana for a moment.

"Okay" Hiram says as he exchanges a glance with LeRoy, "We pretty much knew all that already. I'm not sure of your point."

"I want to marry her." Santana repeats, "I'm here to ask you for your permission to marry your daughter."

Santana wasn't exactly sure what she had been expecting, some shock or surprise probably, followed shouts of delight or Rachel's parents literally jumping for joy. She wasn't expecting a long moment of silence, then the two men looking at each other before Hiram turns back to Santana and simply saying "No."

"Sorry, what?" Santana asks when the shock has worn of a little. Her relationship with Rachel had always received support by the two men and while they had argued about a few things, like Rachel moving in with Santana or whether the diva should return to her childhood home after her short visit to the hospital so Santana had never expected this.

"Santana, I thought you knew our daughter by now." Hiram says, "If she knew you were here right now asking our permission there wouldn't be a wedding, because she would have lectured you to death for asking."

"And us too if she found out we gave you permission." LeRoy asks.

"So while we're delighted that you're going to ask her, best not to let her know popped in to ask us for permission tonight." Hiram says with a smile.

"Have you got a ring yet?" LeRoy asks.

Santana shows them copy of the drawing she had made and both men swoon over it, loving the symbology and the fact that Santana was having it custom made.

"I'm going to ask her in New York." Santana says, "I was planning…"

"Best not to tell us" LeRoy interrupts with a smile, "So we can be surprised when Rachel tells us in great details."

* * *

Santana's phone beeps when Jacob finally posts the short but pointed message he had agreed to.

_As many students here at WMHS will tell you, rumors abound within the school halls. Sometimes they die off just as soon as they appear, sometimes they hang around a little longer or are spread a little wider than normal and rarely such rumors are shown to have at least a kernel of truth. Almost never are they accompanied by a pool whose pot easily reaches into the four digit range._

_This reporter is sure that at this point pretty much everyone at WMHS will have heard the current rumor circulating about second-in-charge Cheerio and lady lover Santana Lopez and has had the opportunity to join the approximately sixty students currently taking part in the pool (figures correct at time of publication). At the request of the Latina in question, the details of the rumor will not be repeated here._

_I can however report that Santana Lopez herself has tonight confirmed personally to myself that the content of the rumor is correct and while she refuses to provide proof, we have no reason to disbelieve her at this point. Ms Lopez also suggests that anyone who intends to approach her either for proof of the rumor or with the intention of procuring a date keep in mind that she is very much in love with her girlfriend, Glee club diva Rachel Berry, and that Jennifer Williams got off lightly with a sprained wrist._

_Ms Lopez also suggests that the holder of the pool deposit the proceeds into her locker via the door air vents by end of school on Monday. Or Else._


	31. Chapter 31

Santana groans as the school bust hits a speed bump way too fast which causes her head to smack against the window it had been resting on with a dull thud and she curses again for the early hour of the morning. She had wanted to spend as much time in New York as possible but she was really rethinking the early hour of their flight. Rachel's "Ouch" causes her to whip round to her girlfriend, sitting next to her on the bench seat, but before she can even open her mouth to ask, Rachel's answering her question.

"I'm alright San, I just hit me knee at that last bump." The diva says.

Puck has obviously also heard Rachel's declaration from his seat a few rows ahead of them because he's turned round and is looking back at them but Santana sends him a glare which turns his attention back to the front of the bus. She's not entirely forgiven him for being the source of a certain rumor, unintentionally or not.

* * *

_"Noah Puckerman!"_

_Puck felt a shiver travel down his spine at the tone in Santana's voice as he turns from his locker to look in the direction of her voice. The shiver turns to a sense of impending dread when he finds not only Santana but also Quinn and Brittany heading in his direction. It wasn't the anger displayed on Santana's face that worried him though, or Quinn's severely pissed off look that he'd seen before when she had found out that he had failed to wear a condom that one time. What disturbed him was the look of pure fury on Brittany's usually placed features._

_He puts on a brave face anyway, "What's up Santana?"_

_"I trusted you!" Santana declares stabbing a finger in the boy's chest and making him step back against the lockers, "Rachel trusted you and this is how you repay her! How the hell could you do that to us Puckerman? All you had to do was keep your big mouth shut but no, you couldn't even keep something as important as this quiet."_

_"Look Santana, I don't know what you're talking about" Puck says as he holds his hands up in surrender, "I swear I never told anyone anything important!"_

_"You started the rumor!"_

_Brittany had finally managed to track down the first Cheerio who had heard the rumor who had then admitted, on pain of getting kicked off the squad and losing any chance at her hoped-for scholarship, that she had heard it from her boyfriend who was a wide-receiver on the football team. When confronted by Quinn and Santana the football player had, without any need for persuasion, admitted to hearing the story from one Noah 'Puck' Puckerman the day before the rumor had been reported to Santana._

_Puck's eyes go wide, "I swear I didn't! I only ever talked about that with Rachel and Quinn, I never told anyone that didn't know." He glances between the three girls, begging them with his eyes to believe him, "I know I can be an asshole some times, but I'd never have done that."_

_"Then why does Daryl Rogers claim you told him last Wednesday in the weight room?!" Santana demands._

_Puck looks blank for a moment than realization dawns on him. "I was alone when Quinn called." Puck says, "He must have been outside the door or came in while I was on the phone. I swear I would never deliberately have told anyone about you."_

_Something in Santana tells her that he's being truthful but she's not ready to let him off the hook quite yet, "Accidental or not, you're still responsible for it getting out. You owe me Puck, big time. And you can bet your ass I'll call that debt in."_

_"Anything" Puck says nodding._

_Santana pokes his chest once more to make sure she's gotten her point across then turns, grabbing Quinn by the arm and dragging her to the nearest empty classroom. Britt follows and closes the door behind them._

_"Talk." Santana demands._

_"It's not what you think." Quinn says, "I didn't call him to talk about you."_

_"So why did you call him and how did you end up talking about me?" Santana demands._

_Quinn sighs, "He left a message on my phone asking to hook up. He apparently hasn't gotten the fact I'm not about to cheat on my girlfriend through his thick skull despite me telling him that repeatedly. So we ended up arguing and um…" Quinn looks around a little nervously then turns her gaze to the floor in front of her feet, "I may have said that I'd rather hook up with you than him since your bigger and probably know what to do with it better than he does." She says quickly._

_Both Santana and Britt's eyes go wide at Quinn's admission._

_"Not that I actually want to hook up with you San, I won't cheat on Britt any more than you'd cheat on Rachel. But Puck thought I actually wanted to hook up with you and he got all protective and 'Don't be the reason Santana cheats on my Jewish Princess' on me so we ended up arguing and I guess he said some stuff that would have given Rogers the story if he'd been listening." Quinn looks up at Santana, "I'm really sorry San."_

_Santana sighs and rubs her eyes, "Fine Q just… don't talk about that sort of stuff on the phone again, okay? You never know who's listening at the other end of a call."_

_Quinn nods and Santana jerks her head to the door, telling the other two girls that she wants to be along for the moment. Just as Quinn reaches for the door handle, she speaks again._

_"Q? I'm bigger than he is?"_

_Quinn looks back over her shoulder with a grin, "From what I saw, yeah. Significantly."_

* * *

"We're almost there anyway." Santana says, her attention turning back to the present as she looks out the window again and recognizes their destination ahead.

The bus is indeed turning into the airport and Santana can feel the anticipation of the glee club members growing. All they knew is that some anonymous benefactor had decided to pay not only for flights for them to New York but also for a full week in a hotel. What they didn't know yet was how they were flying (some had expressed a hope for first class tickets) and what hotel they would be staying at, so almost everyone is looking out of the windows in confusion as the bus turns away from the public terminals towards the private areas of the airport.

Almost everyone that is since Santana, Rachel, Britt and Quinn all knew where they were going and found watching the other members of the Glee club more interesting than the watching the airport around them. The bus stops for a moment and the driver opens his window to talk to someone from the airport staff before continuing down one of the service roads. It's not until the driver turns down between two large hangers then pulls onto the apron that the Glee club gets the first view of the private jet waiting for them.

They don't believe it at first, that much is obvious because their all saying things like "No Way" and "What the fuck?" but when the bus pulls up next to the jet they all fall quiet and many have their mouths hanging open in surprise. Rachel and Santana are the only ones not staring out of the window now because they were too busy smirking at the reactions of the other occupants of the bus and if anyone else on the bus had happened to turn to look at where they sat the observer would easily have been able to tell who had arranged this particular trip.

Though the driver has opened the bus door but no one has yet made a move to disembark, their attention too caught up by the sight of the large jet they are parked next to. Santana rolls her eyes and pops opens the emergency door, jumping down onto the concrete before turning to help Rachel down after her. Quinn and Britt follow before Mr Shue can react to the alarm that started squawking when the door was opened.

Ground crew are already loading their luggage into the jet so the four climb the stairs and are greeted warmly by a member of the cabin crew. Since they are first to board the jet they get a choice of where they sit and Santana leads them to the last row of seats in the main cabin. Each row is made up of four luxurious leather chairs, two on either side of a central isle, and having the last row meant that there was nowhere anyone else could sit that would allow them to see the girls without turning around.

Exactly what Santana wanted.

Not that she intended to do anything with Rachel in their seats. Santana had the key to the currently locked door in the bulkhead at the back of the main cabin that some enterprising person had converted into a small soundproofed bedroom. The seat selection would allow Rachel and herself to slip away unnoticed by everyone but Quinn and Britt who would, no doubt, make use of the resulting privacy afforded by the back row and Santana and Rachel's absence. The Latina could only hope that they don't make too much of a mess.

Rachel frowns at the seats she has to tolerate for the next couple of hours but Santana stops her before she sits and covers the leather with a soft blanket she pulls out of an overhead. Santana had checked but unlike the limo she had been able to source for their Valentines date, no one had yet cornered the vegan private jet market. Rachel had said she understood but smiled up at her girlfriend in appreciation as she settles back into her now covered chair.

A few moments later Mr Shue steps through the jet door and is followed by the rest of the Glee club who all gaze around the cabin in amazement as they file in and find a seat.

"Santana, Rachel, Quinn and Britt, you should have waited for us!" Mr Shue says, "You can't just walk away from the group and get on a jet like that."

"What were we supposed to do, go through customs?" Demands Santana, "This isn't an international flight you know and since this is a private jet, there isn't much in the way of security procedures."

It looks like Mr Shue is about to start on one of his rambling lectures but the Captain chooses that moment to announce that their luggage had been loaded and their take off slot was approaching so anyone not already seated and strapped in should do so. Santana helps Rachel with her seat belt first, making sure it isn't too tight around her baby bump, before fastening her own. By the time she's done, everyone else had apparently found a seat and strapped in and the jet is already rolling towards the runway.

As the plane starts to taxi down the runway, Rachel's hand finds Santana's and the diva grips it tightly. When Santana glances across she finds Rachel's other hand gripping the arm of her chair just as hard and the diva's eyes were screwed shut.

"Rach?" Santana asks.

"I just get a little nervous around the take-off" Rachel says without opening her eyes, "And the landing, and if there's any turbulence."

Santana transfers Rachel's hand to her free hand then flips up the arm rest that's separating them before wrapping her arm around her girlfriend and pulling the smaller girl against her body as best she can while they are still both belted into their seats.

"Why didn't you say anything Rach?" Santana asks.

The diva shrugs, "It's not like there's anything anyone could do about it San. And I'll be okay as soon as we're airborne. Assuming the weather is clear."

Santana looks across the Rachel's seat and out of the window, "Well, we're pretty much airborne baby." She observes.

Santana was right. They had left the runway behind and was quickly climbing into the sky, the scenery going past below them getting steadily smaller and smaller. Rachel glances out the window too and relaxes a little but doesn't let go of Santana's hand and when the Captain comes on the intercom to say they could take off their seat belts, Rachel is pretty much in Santana's lap as soon as she's freed from the restraint.

Santana was beginning to think that maybe she wouldn't get to use the little key in her pocket after all but she satisfies herself for the moment with wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pulling her close.

A member of the cabin crew approaches Mr Shue and passes him an envelope which he opens and reads before pulling out some paper and a pen and making some notes. He stands at the front of the plane and asking for the student's attention.

"Okay guys, listen up. I just got a note from our benefactor and there are some things I need to go over." He has to shout a number of times before he has everyone's attention, but eventually he continues. "First up, while the jet and hotel has been paid for, I've been warned that any damage to either will have to be paid for out of our own pockets. So behave."

Santana didn't hold up too much hope. She was pretty sure she'd have to get something repaired either on the plane or at the hotel and she doubted anyone in New Directions apart from herself and Rachel could afford those sorts of repairs. But she'd count the week a success if she didn't have to bail anyone out of jail.

"And the same goes for room service, pay-per-view television or anything else you could charge to your room bill." Mr Shue continues, "Three meals a day will be supplied by the hotel restaurant but anything else is at your own expense."

Santana easily heard the groans from some of the boys and grins. They had obviously been planning to take advantage of her generosity by charging stuff to their room bill and she had considered not warning them and letting the resulting bills be a nasty surprises, but the hotel was expensive and she could honestly see some of them getting grounded until graduation when their parents had to pay up.

"Now, the number of rooms we'll have means we'll have to share, two to a room. So I've drawn up a list of who will share with whom, just to avoid any arguments. So, Puck will share with…"

Mr Shue reads out the list of names until only the four girls are left, "Santana will share with Brittany and Quinn will share with Rachel."

"Oh Hell No!" Santana declares before she can even fully process what Mr Shue had just said, "No offense Britt but I'm sharing with Rachel. Quinn can share with Britt."

"Santana, I don't think it's appropriate for couples to be sharing on a school trip." Mr Shue says, "I think it would be better…"

"I don't care what you think. Rachel and I have been living together for months now with the full agreement of our parents. And in case you don't pay attention to the school rumor mill or anything that happens in the choir room, she's pregnant with my children." Santana glares at Mr Shue, "Rachel and I are sharing a room."

"Um, okay…" Mr Shue says a little uncertainly.

"And Britt and Quinn will share too." Santana adds.

In the end Mr Shue gives up and lets them all choose their own roommates which actually causes significantly less hassle than his plan to assign roommates.

* * *

Half an hour later Rachel stirs from her position on Santana's lap, her head resting on the cheerleaders shoulder and her breath tickling Santana's neck.

"How high do you think we are?" the diva asks.

Santana glances out of the window and shrugs, "Pretty high up I think baby, this thing can cruise at up to fifty thousand feet."

"Over a mile?"

Santana chuckles quietly, apparently Rachel had the same thing on her mind as she did, "Yeah baby, I think we're well over a mile up."

The diva sighs and wriggles a little on Santana's lap, "I wish we had some privacy."

Santana grins and glances around, her eyes going wide when her gaze reaches Quinn and Britt. "They don't seem to care."

Britt is sitting on Quinn's lap in the same sort of position as Rachel but instead of sitting with her back to the isle separating them, she's facing out towards where Santana and Rachel sit. Her lips are also pretty much welded to Quinn's and her jeans are undone with Quinn's hand disappearing inside them.

Rachel twists round to look for a moment before turning back to her original position, "Yeah, but it's not your hand I want and this" she runs her hand over her growing stomach, "doesn't exactly make it easy to be discreet."

"Well" Santana says with a grin she has no chance of hiding, "I suppose we could use the small private cabin through the locked and soundproofed door behind us. You know; the one with a bed."

Rachel's no longer curled up against Santana but sitting bolt upright and looking down at her, "How do we get the key?" she demands.

Santana fished out the key from her pocket and holds it up only to have it snatched from her hand before Rachel shoots out of her lap, unlocks the door and disappears into the other cabin with surprising speed and quietness. Santana follows and closes the door behind them, locking it when Rachel hands her the key. The cabin is small, barely larger than the bed it contains and that is only a standard double rather than a Queen size or anything larger. Still it would do fine for what they want.

Rachel is standing with her head cocked to one side apparently listening to something, "Soundproof?"

Santana realizes her girlfriend is listening to the low hum of the engines they can still hear, "I guess not totally" she shrugs, "We'll just have to keep it down."

Rachel's dress is already on the floor around her feet and she's reaching behind herself to unhook her bra as Santana's eyes rove over the smaller girl's compact body. Even five months pregnant she's only put on a little weight (not counting her baby bump) and what she has put on has just had the result of making her look even more feminine and wonderfully curvy than before. Santana's not entirely sure how, maybe it's the fact that her babies are growing inside the diva, but she's sure Rachel gets more and more beautiful each time she looks at her. Whatever the reason one thing is for sure, she's nuts about Rachel and isn't about to complain.

"You are staring again." Rachel interrupts Santana's reverie without looking around.

"Yeah, well you're beautiful" Santana says as she steps over to Rachel and wraps her arms around her, "and I'll stare whenever I want to."

"Even with this?" Rachel asks as she runs her hand over her bulging abdomen.

"Especially with that." Santana answers as she covers the diva's hand with her own, "Your beautiful Rachel, you'll be beautiful right up to your due date; you'll be beautiful even when you're screaming at me for doing this to you when you're giving birth and you'll be even more beautiful afterwards when you're holding our babies."

Rachel turns in Santana's arms and loops her arms around the taller girl's neck, "You always seem to know what to say San." She giggles when Santana's fingers slip into the side of her panties and push them down over her hips to drop to the floor. "You know, I've never been naked on a plane before" she teases Santana as she kicks her panties away.

"I should hope not."

"So how long do we have?"

Santana shrugs, "About an hour I think, if we want to be back in the main cabin before we land."

"Then we better hurry up."

It's only a few steps to the bed and Santana isn't sure if she guides Rachel there or if her girlfriend drags her along with her, but Rachel ends up lying on the end with Santana kneeling over her. They kiss, long and slow, their tongues sliding with practiced easy from one mouth to the other and they only break when the need for breath becomes paramount.

"You have too many clothes on." Rachel pouts as she reaches for the button of Santana's jeans but the other girl has other ideas.

"Not yet." Santana reaches for Rachel's hands and gently pins them above the other girl's head before kissing her thoroughly again. Santana had other plans right now and while they required Rachel to be as disrobed as she currently was, it didn't particularly matter what she was wearing or not.

Rachel's concern with Santana's clothing seems to vanish as soon as the Latina's lips close around one of her nipples, her back arching to push her breasts up towards Santana's very willing mouth. She moans rather loudly which just encourages the Latina to double her effort. Her free hand slides down over Rachel's bump and between the smaller girls legs.

"Fuck Rach" Santana gasps as she lets the other girl's nipple pop out of her mouth, "You're so damn wet…"

"All for you San" Rachel gasps.

Santana wastes no more time. She crawls down the bed, kissing her way over Rachel's baby bump until she can settle herself between the diva's legs. The noise Rachel makes as the Latina's tongue slides over her folds for the first time and the familiar, delectable taste that floods her mouth is enough to make Santana think she's going to burst out of her jeans, maybe taking them off wouldn't be such a bad idea.

She scrabbles at the button and zip with one hand while her lips close around Rachel's clit which causes the diva's hips to jerk up and a moan when Santana loses contact for a moment. Santana takes the opportunity to sit up and finally unbutton her jeans before leaning forward to find her girlfriends little nub with her tongue while kicking off her jeans. At this point she couldn't care less that her boxers slide off along with jeans, only thankful that she hadn't bothered to wear compression shorts today, and she groans in relief against her girlfriend's sensitive flesh as her hardness springs free from its confinement.

Santana wraps an arm under one of Rachel's legs and up over her hips to hold her in place while she works on the girl with her tongue. She knows exactly what Rachel likes when Santana's between her girlfriends legs and she wastes no time in pressing every button the diva has and she takes the loud moans and groans Rachel is currently producing as a good sign. In the back of her mind she hopes the soundproofing is better than they think because any sort of restraint Rachel had been showing has gone right out of the window.

"Santana…" Rachel gasps, "Please…"

"What do you want babe?"

"Inside… please!"

Santana grins and is only two happy to oblige but the two fingers she so easily slips into the other girl don't seem to please her.

"No…" she moans in a disappointed tone, "I need you!"

Santana takes one last lick then sits back on her heels and wipes her mouth. Rachel's bump has gotten to the side that it makes the logistics of Santana being inside her a little difficult for some positions but they both agree that Santana entering Rachel from behind as they both lie on their side is currently one of their favorite positions and doesn't put too much stress on Rachel or the babies

The diva has already rolled onto her right side and pulled one leg up and Santana slides into position behind her a moment later. The Latina reaches down and grabs her length and, without pause, slides it deep into Rachel's waiting pussy.

"Jesus fuck!" Santana gasps as her hips press against Rachel's ass.

Santana is pretty sure she's never felt Rachel like this before. The diva's so very hot and wet and she's already squeezing Santana's cock as hard as the Latina can ever remember Rachel doing and it takes everything she has not to explode inside the other girl right then and there. Rachel moans as if someone just flicked the power setting for her pleasure setting to maximum and before Santana can even move inside the other girl, she feels a shudder pass through the smaller body.

Santana skips the slow build up, they're both too far gone already for that, and as she pulls back her hips she starts on a fast rhythm that has her hips rapidly slapping against Rachel's ass as her fingers dig into the flesh at the girls hips. Rachel reaches back and blindly grabs one of Santana's forearms trying to pull the other girl even closer as she herself rocks her hips back to meet every thrust.

Both girls are moaning and groaning loudly now, uncaring of how good or bad the soundproofing of the small cabin may be and only concerned with the feelings of intense pleasure they are giving one another. In the end its Rachel that comes first, her moan cut short with a loud gasp and then she screams Santana's name as she shudders her release.

Santana felt Rachel tense under her fingertips and managed one last thrust to bury herself inside her girlfriend before the diva's insides clamped down ever tighter around her cock. The pulsing around her hard length is enough to make her eyes roll up into her head and she screams her own release as she pumps streams of her hot, sticky seed into her girlfriend.

They lie there tense and shuddering for what feels like minutes, the sound of their screaming releases echoing in their ears, until the aftershocks of their orgasms have passed and Santana has slipped out of Rachel. The diva rolls over in her lovers arms and plants a long kiss on Santana's lips, smiling when she finds her own taste lingering there.

"How much longer have we got?" Rachel asks.

Santana glances around until her gaze lands on a digital clock mounted above the cabin door, "Forty five minutes."

"Good. Because I'm not done with you yet."

* * *

Santana opens the door slowly and peers out of the crack. She can't see much at first but soon Quinn and Britt come into view, both apparently dozing in their seats. She can hear people talking, a little quiet singing and she's pretty sure Puck or Finn are snoring loudly so she cautiously opens the door further and sticks her head out. No one is paying the back of the aircraft any attention, so Santana steps back and allows Rachel to slip out of the room and into her seat first.

Santana steps out of the smaller cabin and locks the door behind her before returning to her own seat. She looks around once more and is deciding they had gotten away with their absence when she finds Quinn looking at her with a knowing expression and a grin. The blonde beckons to Santana and the both lean into the isle until Quinn can whisper to Santana.

"I want the use of that room on the return journey."


	32. Chapter 32

The rest of the flight and landing went smoothly much to Rachel's relief and, since they had to circle for only twenty minutes before they got to land, Santana was sure they would still arrive at the hotel in time for lunch. She had missed breakfast that morning on her rush to get out of the house, her own fault since she'd rolled over and ignored both Quinn and Rachel when they'd tried to wake her up, and the activities on the jet had just left her craving carbs.

Two stretched limo's had been parked on the tarmac outside the private hanger when the jet had arrived and before they had even cracked the door to the plane the ground crew had been loading luggage into the trunks. The Limo's ended up split over gender lines, pretty much because Santana had dragged Rachel to the nearest limo and had been followed by Britt and Quinn who had in turn been followed by the rest of the glee girls.

Despite New York's notorious traffic the journey to the hotel is surprisingly short and Santana can't help but smirk at the incredulous looks worn by the Glee girls that didn't know where they were staying when they pull up outside of one of New York's most famous hotels.

"There must be some mistake" Tina says as she gazes out the window, "Who'd pay for us to stay here?"

Mercedes is more pragmatic, "Girl, if it is a mistake then don't tell them. I intend to fully enjoy my stay."

By the time they all climb out of the cars there are what appear to be a small army of bell boys unloading their bags from the trunks so Santana takes Rachel's hand and the initiative, since everyone else is standing on the sidewalk staring at the hotel, by walking through the hotel's main doors. They are joined after a few moments by the rest of the group Mr Shue head towards reception to check them in and get their room keys leaving everyone to gaze around the lobby in amazement.

"Ms Lopez!" A suited man calls as he hastily walks across the lobby towards them, "So good to see you again. Could I have a moment of your time please?"

Santana's head had snapped around in the suited man's direction when she heard her name called and she sighs as she turns back to Rachel, "Stay with the rest of the group would you Rach? This should only take a moment."

"Who is that man?" the diva asks.

Santana glances around, causing Rachel to do the same and they both see a number of the group obviously listening in. "I'll tell you later" She replies to Rachel, "In private."

The diva nods and watches as Santana crosses to the suited man, takes him by the arm and walks him in the other direction while he talks animatedly and she glances back every so often to make sure no one is following them. They stop some distance away and talk back and forth for a little while. Rachel can tell the suited man is confused and Santana looks irritated as she obviously lays down the law about something, it's a scene Rachel has watched in school so many times but she's surprised that this stranger is acting as subordinate to Santana as the students do.

Santana returns at the same time as Mr Shue who makes a big deal about handing out the electronic cards for the room locks and telling them they'd all meet for lunch in an hour in a specially reserved area of the hotel's restaurant and would discuss their itinerary at that point. Santana rolls her eyes at Mr Shue and whisks Rachel and their luggage up to their room where the diva collapses on the bed with a groan dramatic groan of pleasure.

"Jeez Rach, anyone would think that you'd been on your feet all day" Santana says as she eyes their luggage before shrugging and throwing herself down onto the bed next to Rachel.

"And what we did all morning isn't as tiring?" the diva asks, "Plus I have to haul these two around as well, its tiring work you know" she adds as she rests her hands on her stomach "and this bed feels like a cloud."

"Well don't fall asleep angel. Mr Shue wants to fill us in on his itinerary for the week over lunch which we will no doubt all ignore." Santana says as Rachel rolls over snuggle into her girlfriend, "But you may want to take a shower before we go downstairs, you smell like sex."

Rachel giggles, "Whose fault is that?"

"You suggested it." Santana smirked against Rachel's neck, "I was quite happy where I was."

"Maybe, but who arrange a jet with a bed and already had the key to the locked cabin that contained said furniture?"

Santana smirks again, "I was simply trying to be fully prepared for any eventuality like someone I know keeps telling me I should be."

"Fully prepared would have had two bedrooms" Rachel points out in a teasing tone, "If you were planning on joining the mile high club it would have been obvious with a moment's thought that Quinn and Britt would want to as well."

Santana pulls a face, "I really try not to think of what those two get up to. And anyway, why think about them when I can think about us together?" she teases.

Rachel's lips find Santana's and they spend a good few minutes making out before they relax back onto their respective pillows.

"So who was the guy in the suit?" Rachel asks suddenly remembering the interaction between Santana the stranger in the lobby just after they arrived.

Santana looks at the other girl blankly for a moment then understanding crosses her features as she understands who Rachel means. "Oh nobody important."

"Nobody important? Santana, he knew your name and the way he grovelled to you wouldn't have looked out of place at school."

Santana shrugs, "It was just the day manager." When Rachel looks at her expectantly the Latina sighs dramatically. "I've been here before with my Aunt and he just wanted to make sure I hadn't been checked in to the wrong room."

"You've been here before?! I New York?" Rachel demands, "Why didn't you tell me? When was it? What…"

Santana silences Rachel with a kiss so that she can get a word in edgeways, "It was years ago before my Aunt died, we weren't exactly friends back then and have you told me everything about every time you've been to New York? And don't say you have" she adds in a knowing tone, "Because your fathers have been very informative about some things you got up to on some visits."

Rachel's obsession with New York in general and Broadway in particular had led to a number of embarrassing moments during her too rare, in her opinion anyway, visits to the city. She had, of course, never told anyone about those events and was a little put out but not surprised to hear that her fathers had shared those events with her girlfriend. She'd have to have a word with them when she got back home.

"I still don't see why he was worried about you being in the wrong room." Rachel says.

"I guess they are used to shareholders staying in the penthouse suite." Santana says, "At least, that's where he wanted to put me."

It takes Rachel a moment to recover from her surprise enough to demand "You own this hotel?!"

Santana hums in confirmation, "Well, part of the hotel chain. I think there's about thirty of them worldwide."

"Part of the chain…" Rachel repeats in disbelief, "Just how much of the chain? Because I doubt that a manager will grovel for someone who owns a few dozen shares."

"Um, somewhere around sixty five percent I think?" Santana frowns as Rachel pulls away to roll onto her back and glare up at the ceiling. "Are you angry that I didn't tell you?"

Rachel shakes her head, "No San, I'm just… overwhelmed. And wondering why we're not in the penthouse suite…"

"And how would we explain that to the rest of the glee club? They ran out of regular rooms and upgraded us?" Santana smiles when Rachel is at a loss for an answer to that one, "Look, we'll come back after schools out, just you and me and then you can enjoy the penthouse and the city without Mr Shue's timetable. How does that sound?"

Apparently it sounded pretty good because Rachel gave Santana one of those kisses that always took the Latina's breath away. "You're too good to me San." Rachel says.

"Not possible Rach. Now go take that shower and don't take too long 'cause I needs to get my munchies on."

Rachel climbs off the bed, grabs her toiletries from their luggage and stops in the door to the en-suite. "Going to join me?" she asks with a playful glint in her eyes.

"Tempting" Santana replies eying the smaller girl, "But then we'll never make lunch."

Rachel disappears into the bathroom and Santana unpacks for both of them while she waits for the other girl to finish her shower. The Latina is exquisitely aware of just how whipped she is and honestly she couldn't care less. Rachel emerges some time later entirely naked apart from the towel wrapped around her hair and Santana has to remind herself that they are expected downstairs for lunch with everyone else. With one last longing look at her girlfriend, Santana closes the bathroom door and jumps into the shower, cranking the temperature control all the way over to cold.

When Santana emerges from the bathroom she can't help but grin when she finds Rachel passed out on the bed. The diva is dressed in underwear and a t-shirt and had obviously been in the process of getting dressed. Her lower legs dangle off the end of the bed and a pair of jeans lay crumpled on the floor near her feet as if she had just sat down to put on the jeans and then just fell backwards onto the bed.

Santana considers waking her but figures that since she has fallen asleep then she must need the rest and would probably just end up dozing off over lunch anyway. Best just to leave her to sleep and if she's hungry later they can order room service. The Latina carefully lifts Rachel up the bed until her head rests on one of the pillows then pulls the comforter up over her body. Santana dresses quickly, leaves a note next to the clock in case Rachel wakes while she's gone and presses her lips to her girlfriend's forehead in a chaste kiss before heading down to the restaurant.

* * *

She's the last to arrive in the small area reserved for their group apart from Mr Shue who seems to be taking is tardiness to a whole new level. They decide not to wait and order and are already eating when the teacher finally does show face.

"You started without me?" He asks rather put out.

"You were late for your own deadline." Miss Pillsbury points out from where she's polishing her silverware.

Mr Shue shrugs and looks around, "So are we waiting for Rachel or has she been and gone?"

"She's sleeping." Santana offers between bites.

"Well could you go and wake her up?" Mr Shue asks, "I need to go through the itinerary and everyone needs to be here to hear it."

"No" Santana says.

"Excuse me?"

"No" Santana repeats, "Mr Shue if she's tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of getting dressed, I'm not going to go wake her up just to listen to you lecture us on what you think is acceptable pastimes for us for the next week. She has to look after herself and our children so we'll leave her to sleep and I'll fill her in on anything important later."

Mr Shue is a little taken aback by Santana defiance but decides not to push the point, the Latina did have a point and Mr Shue wasn't sure he wanted to cross her right now. Instead he opens the folder he's carrying with all his paperwork in it and starts going through the itinerary for the week. Santana isn't surprised that it sounds like he's tried not only to fill every moment of every day but he's expecting them all to stick to a stupidly early curfew. She doesn't feel the need to argue though since everyone else is pretty much doing that anyway and Mr Shue is looking rather harassed by the whole thing. It's sort of amusing to think that if he'd actually allowed them input in the first place, he'd never have had this problem.

Mr Shue apparently notices Santana's silence, "I don't see why your all arguing with me" he says, "Santana doesn't seem to have a problem with the schedule so I don't see why anyone else does."

"That's simple Mr Shue; I don't have a problem because it doesn't apply to me." Santana says. She chews on some food for a moment before adding "Or Rachel."

"Your parents signed your permission slip Santana, which gives me responsibility for your well being and that means I can set a curfew and restrict your movements if I feel that's best." Mr Shue argues.

"Did you look at my permission slip?" Santana asks.

Mr Shue looks at her in confusion then starts digging through his papers. The permissions slips had been a bit of a problem for Quinn since the chance of getting her parents to sign anything for her was somewhere around a snowballs chance in a furnace. But Santana consulted her lawyer and found that she could act as Quinn's guardian and sign the slip for her. The thought of Santana as her legal guardian did not amuse Quinn as much as it amused Santana.

"When you find it, you'll find my signature on the slip, not my parents. If you'd actually checked the permissions slips like a responsible adult would, you'd have known that."

"Santana! Your parents are supposed to sign this. I'm going to have to go call them now and you better hope they don't tell me to put you back on a plane to Lima."

"Actually you don't need to call anyone." Santana says apparently unconcerned, "You see I'm a legally emancipated minor which means you don't actually need this." She rises from her seat and grabs the permission slip from Me Shue's hand before ripping it up. "And as an adult I can do what I like, when I like. So while we will adhere to your itinerary for things relating to the competition, the rest of Rachel and my time will be spent how we please."

Mr Shue had been pawing through his papers and had apparently found and examined Rachel's permission slip. "You might be able to do that Santana, but Rachel's permission slip was signed by one of her fathers which means she is subject to my rules."

Santana smirks and pulls an envelope out of her pocket "And here's a letter signed by both of Rachel's fathers giving her permission to do pretty much what she likes as long as she's with me and we avoid the subway." Santana shrugs, "Apparently she has a habit of getting lost down there but it's not a problem since we have a car at our disposal."

As Santana predicted, Mr Shue pretty much gave up arguing after she stood up to him. The end result being a much more relaxed schedule, especially after the competition, which gave everyone more free time and a curfew that was reasonable. Puck tried to push his luck of course and Santana was pretty sure some of them would sneak out or otherwise ignore the curfew anyway, but that wasn't her problem.

Santana leaves the restaurant when she's done with lunch. Almost everyone else is still talking enthusiastically about what they want to do with their spare time in the city and who they are going to do it with since Mr Shue declared that they should stick to groups of no less or three or four but Quinn and Britt follow Santana to the elevator.

"That was so cool how you stood up to Mr Shue San." Britt enthuses, "How did you get Rach's daddies to give you the letter?"

"Same way as I got this one for you Britt" Santana says with a grin as she hands over the letter, "I asked them. And don't think I've forgotten you Q" she pulls out another envelope just as the elevator doors open, "signed by yours truly."

When she reaches her room Santana finds Rachel still sound asleep. She strips off quickly, sets an alarm on her phone so they'll be up in time for her plans for that evening and slides into bed, gently pulling her girlfriend against her body.

* * *

Santana hadn't thought she'd actually fall asleep when she climbed into the bed with Rachel even though she had set the alarm on her phone just in case, so she's a little surprised to find herself waking up with empty arms. But it's not her alarm that woke Santana up and, apart from an initial few seconds of disorientation before she was fully awake, she doesn't have to wonder where Rachel is either. That is unless someone else has climbed into her bed and currently has her erection in their mouth.

She lifts up the sheets and looks down, groaning in pleasure when Rachel is indeed reviled to be the other person under the sheets. The diva lets Santana's erection pop out of her mouth, her hand closing around it and stroking it as she look up at her girlfriend.

"So your finally awake then." She says with a grin.

"You too apparently."

"It's kind of difficult to sleep when this things poking you in the back." Rachel teases as she gives Santana's cock a playful squeeze.

Santana groans, her head falling back onto the pillow as she drops the sheets back over herself, "Please tell me you're not going to stop now I'm awake." She begs.

Santana's answer comes when Rachel's lips close around her cock once more and for the next few minutes the only sounds that can be heard in the room is Santana's moans and groans and the occasional sucking noise. The Latina doesn't bother to warn Rachel when she's about to orgasm, partially because Rachel never stops if Santana does warn her but mainly because Rachel always seems to know when it's about to happen and this time is no different. Rachel drags her teeth up Santana's length until just the head of her penis is in the diva's mount, lips sealed tight around her shaft and tongue teasing at her glands. When Santana is spent Rachel licks her clean then climbs up the bed to lie on her side next to the Latina.

Santana rolls onto her side to face her girlfriend and kisses her soundly before pulling back and grinning, "Now I get to return the favor" she declares before making to move down the bed only to be stopped by Rachel.

"Use your fingers" the diva instructs knowing Santana's cock won't be useful for doing that for a little while, "I need your mouth up here."

Santana is only too happy to oblige, sliding her tongue into Rachel's mouth at the same time as she slides her hand between the diva's legs. Santana groans not only at the heat and abundant wetness between Rachel's legs but at her own taste still in the diva's mouth. It only takes a few minutes for Rachel's walls to clamp down around the three fingers Santana currently has thrust deep into the diva but it's a good five minutes before she stops shaking leaving them both laying on the bad panting.

"So" Rachel asks, "What now?"

Rachel's question is punctuated by the sound of Santana's phone alarm going off. The Latina twists around and silences it before turning back to Rachel. "Now we get showered and dressed for dinner and a show."

"Really?" Rachel's face fairly lights up when Santana mentions a show, "Your taking me to Broadway?"

Santana grins back at her girlfriend, "First night in New York babe, do you think I'd arrange anything else?"

"Where are we going? What are we going to see?" Rachel demands.

"You'll see when we get there. Now go shower and get dressed." Rachel is already half way to the bathroom when Santana calls after her "And try not to fall asleep this time."

* * *

Dinner goes perfectly. Santana took Rachel to a small restaurant she had found that specialized in vegan food and the diva had been awed at the choices she had been presented with. She had taken so long to select from the menu that Santana had been worried that they would be late for the show, but the restaurant's service is just as good as their food and they are back in the hotel limo and on their way to the theater well before the show is due to start.

Rachel is literally bouncing in her seat as she watches the city crawl past. She's given up asking Santana what they are going to see and where they are going to see it, it's become apparent even to Rachel that the Latina isn't about to give anything away, so instead she's looking out of the window and trying to guess where they are going. Santana thinks the whole thing is just too damn adorable. Rachel blushes when Santana makes a comment to that effect.

So Rachel isn't looking out of the window when the limo pulls up at the curb. Her head snaps up as the car stops and her jaw drops.

"We're going to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theater?" she asks with a tone of awe and disbelief in her voice.

The banners on the front of the building make what the Gershwin is currently showing pretty obvious and Santana knows that this is one of the places that Rachel tries to see every time she's come to New York but she's never had a chance to actually attend a show in the theater. It hadn't been hard for Santana to choose where they were going to go after dinner and getting the tickets had only been slightly more difficult. The rest of the arrangements for the night had been trickier but eventually everything was in place.

Santana was already out of the limo and holding her hand out to help Rachel climb out. The diva looks around at the crowds on the sidewalk a little self-conscious of her swollen belly but Santana seems to sense this and steps closer to her girlfriend.

"You look amazing baby. Just remember, if anyone's staring it's because you're so damn hot."

Rachel smiles up at Santana just as a uniformed member of staff walks over to them. "Ms Lopez?" he asks. When Santana nods he holds out a hand towards the building, "If you'll follow me please."

They are lead into the building and Rachel looks around confused when they turn away from the main doors to the theater proper.

"Where are we going?" she whispers to Santana.

"To our private box."

"But the Gershwin has no private boxes." Rachel declares.

Santana smiles, "There are one or two, but they aren't available to members of the public. You can't just buy tickets for them, you have to know people."

Rachel's eyes go wide, "Please tell me you don't own the theater."

"I don't own the theater" Santana chuckles, "But my aunt knew the manager who not only still remembers her fondly, but was willing to extend me a favor based on the one time my Aunt introduced us at one of her functions."

They are shown to the box and make themselves comfortable just in time for the curtain to go up. This time there's no chance of funny business in the box, not that Santana had thought Rachel would allow that in the Gershwin of all places, because the diva attention is glued to the stage from the moment the show starts until the entire cast troupe out onto the stage to take the final bows. Santana spends more time watching Rachel sing along quietly with pretty much all the songs than she does watching the actual show.

Just as the cast are taking their bows there is a knock on the box door and the uniformed man steps into the small room.

"Ms Lopez, if you are ready." He says indicating the door.

Santana stands and holds her hand out to the diva whose face falls at the suggestion they have to leave.

"But… but they sometimes do a reprise of some of the songs!" Rachel says her expression begging to stay and watch.

"But wouldn't you prefer to watch from backstage?" Santana asks.

Rachel's face shows disbelief before she's suddenly out of the box at a speed surprising for someone quite to pregnant. Santana and the staff member have to jog to catch up and soon they are standing in the wings of the stage watching the performers playing Elphaba and Glinda reprising Defying Gravity. Rachel claps with everyone else and takes a moment to notice that Elphaba seems to be looking at them expectantly.

"What's going on?" she asks Santana as she glances around.

"Their waiting for my signal."

"What signal?"

"The one that will tell them if you're going to go out there and sing Don't Rain on My Parade."

"What?!" Rachel squeaks.

"You get to sing on stage at the Gershwin in front of a full audience Rach, if you want to that is. You can say no if you're not ready."

Rachel never suffers from stage fright but she figures what she's feeling right now has to be pretty close to just that. And yet this is something she's dreamed about and the fact that Santana has arranged it for her, given her the opportunity and the choice to achieve that dream, is unbelievable to Rachel. She can't say no and so she doesn't.

"I'll do it."

Santana nods to Elphaba and the performer lifts her microphone to her lips.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We have something rather special for you tonight. You may not know this young ladies name right now but remember her name because in a few years I'm sure she'll be taking Broadway by storm. Performing Don't Rain on My Parade from the seminal musical Funny Girl, Rachel Barbra Berry!"

As soon as she steps out onto the stage the nerves Rachel had been feeling leave her totally and she's lost in the performance. The cast lining the stage behind her are forgotten, the audience still filling the theater seating are invisible because of the stage lights now trained on her, but the music swells and her voice carries even over the orchestra and she's performing on stage on Broadway just like she had always dreamed and she finally feels like she's found her place in this world. Any fragment of doubt she may have had about this being what she was supposed to do with her life is gone and she sings with every ounce of her being.

The last note echoes around the theater and Rachel starts to get nervous after a few beats of absolute silence. She still can't see the audience because of the stage lights so she turns uncertainly towards Santana only to find her not standing in the wings waiting for her but only a few feet away down on one knee with a microphone of her own in her hand.

"Rachel" Santana says and winces as her voice echoes a little too loud around the theater. After a pause she tries again, "Rachel. I know we haven't been together for that long, it's not even been six months yet, and we're both still very young but I honestly can't imagine the rest of my life without you and don't want to try. I want you to be the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I see before I go to sleep. I want to raise our children with you and experience all their firsts with you, their first word, their first step, their first girlfriend or boyfriend. I want to be there with you when you have your first starring role in a Broadway show and when you get your first Tony award. But above all that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Santana pauses and takes a deep breath before holding out a small felt covered box to show the ring glistening inside. "Rachel Barbra Berry, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"


	33. Chapter 33

There are a few things to keep in mind when you go down on one knee to propose on a stage in front of a theater full of people. First, if you happen to be doing it in a dress remember to pick one that doesn't make it a distinct possibility you might end up flashing a good portion of the front row. And second, stages are designed to be durable and therefor are pretty solid. If there's any chance you might be waiting for an answer for some time, you might want to bring something soft to kneel on. Santana was learning both of these lessons the hard way.

But what was really starting to worry her right now was Rachel's reaction. Santana had thought she'd prepared herself for anything the other girl might do. The physical assault as Rachel threw herself at her and tried to smother her with kisses, the weeping collapse into her arms as Rachel accepted with a dramatic speech that sounded like she'd been writing it for months, the look of infinite sadness Rachel would wear as she broke Santana's heart or the possibility that Rachel might just bolt for the far side of the stage to get away from her. Some of those scenarios would hurt more than anyone could prepare for them but Santana had thought she had prepared as best she could.

She hadn't been prepared for Rachel's actual reaction, or currently lack of reaction. The diva was standing where she had turned towards Santana at the end of her song, the microphone forgotten, her hands dangling at her sides and her eyes on the little box in Santana's hands. She was standing so still that Santana thought she had actually stopped breathing, her face frozen in a look of shock, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide.

Seconds ticked by that felt like hours to Santana, her eyes still trained on the motionless girl before her. The faint buzz of murmuring from the far reaches of the audience reaches her ears and even though her mouth feels like sandpaper and her heart is thumping in her ears, Santana manages to speak?

"Rach?"

The uncertain question seems to jolt Rachel out of whatever shocked stupor had gripped her. One hand goes to her chest, the other to her baby bump and her eyes raise to meet Santana's. Her mouth opens and closes, once, twice then three times but no sound comes out and if she weren't so nervous right now, Santana would have taken pride in finally making Rachel speechless. In the end the diva gives up on trying to answer vocally and instead nods her head violently before hauling Santana to her feet and more or less throwing herself into the Latina's arms, almost knocking the ring box out of her hand in the process.

"Say it Rach" Santana whispers in to Rachel's ear, "Please… I need to hear you say it."

"Yes" Rachel finally manages to gasp, "Yes, I will marry you!"

"She said yes!" Santana declares into her microphone.

A wall of noise washes over the pair where they stand on the stage, clapping, cheering and even some whistling, her first standing ovation on Broadway but Rachel is oblivious, her entire world consists of just her and Santana. Rachel steps back a little and holds out her hand, fingers splayed, and looks at her fiance expectantly. Santana seems confused for a moment and Rachel grins.

"The ring."

"Oh"

Santana fumbles with the box but manages to extract the ring and slide it on to Rachel's finger. They both stare at it for a moment before Rachel once again throws herself at Santana. Their bodies are pressed together when it happens, Santana's arms around Rachel's waist and the diva's hands linked behind Santana's neck. They are just leaning in for another kiss when Rachel suddenly gasps and Santana pulls her head back, looking down with wide eyes at where Rachel's baby bump pressed against her stomach.

"Was that…?" she asked in awe.

Rachel nods, "They're kicking."

"Was that the first time?"

"I've felt them moving about before." Rachel admits, "But that's the first time I've felt anything that strong, or anything that anyone else could have felt."

They stand there pressed together for a few more minutes, each kick they feel causing their smiles to get even larger and totally oblivious to both the cast and the audience slowly making their way out of the theater. Rachel suddenly pulls back with a dramatic gasp and Santana can feel her eyebrows rise.

"What's wrong?"

"I need to get you a ring!" Rachel declares.

Santana can't help but smile. The thought had struck her only a few days after she had ordered Rachel's ring. They had been sitting on the sofa, or rather Santana had been sitting on the sofa and Rachel had been sitting on Santana's lap, when the Latina noticed Rachel unconsciously playing with her Claddagh ring. The first thing Rachel had done when she had gotten out of the hospital was take Santana out and get her a matching ring and it wasn't much of a jump to conclude that the diva would show the same desire this time round. Honestly, Santana wanted to wear Rachel's ring as much as she wanted Rachel to wear hers.

So she'd called the jeweler as soon as she could get some time to herself and commissioned a second ring in her size. It had increased the price of the pair somewhat, getting two matching heart cut diamonds was tricky so four was expensive and in the end they had to settle for stones a little larger than Santana had intended, but the ring turned out beautifully and the money really wasn't a problem.

So Santana pulls another small box out of her handbag and passes it to Rachel who looks a little confused as she accepts it. But a large smile breaks out on her lips as she opens the box and before Santana can stop her, she's already dropped to one knee.

"Santana, I… well I haven't exactly had a chance to plan what I want to say but… When I imagine the future I really can't see it being any other way than you and me and our kids. I don't know what's going to happen when we go to college and I don't know if I'm ever going to make it on Broadway like I dreamed, but what I do know is my dreams have changed and I know that whatever happens in the future, whatever career I end up having, I'll be happiest if you are there with me. Santana, will you marry me?"

Santana sniffs a little and wipes away a tear before nodding, "Yes Rach, I would love to marry you."

It's Santana's turn to hold out her hand and Rachel's to slide on the ring and then, after one more hug and kiss, they actually get around to the back stage tour Santana had arranged.

* * *

Brittany sits, feet curled under her, on the padded bench across from the elevators watching Quinn with some amusement as she paces back and forth for a short distance each way along the corridor, muttering to herself and casting a glance every so often at the closed elevator doors. Every time the elevator doors start to open Quinn turns and quickly makes her way over, only to turn away when whoever she was expecting doesn't exit.

Up until about twenty minutes ago, Quinn and Britt had been tangled up in each other limbs wearing only a thin sheen of sweat and basking in the afterglow of their latest orgasms. Then an alarm on Quinn's phone had gone off and the blonde had pretty much bolted from the bed, hauled on a dress (without bothering with underwear much to Britt's approval), slipped in to a pair of flats and was almost out the door before remembering Britt was there.

The expectant look Quinn had given Britt had her rolling out of bed and stretching, her arms above her head and a smirk on her lips as she watches Quinn's eyes scan down the length of her body before she swallows hard. But Quinn had resisted the obvious temptation provided and Britt had sighed before donning her own sweats and following her girlfriend out of the room. They had walked the length of the corridor to the elevators without a word and Quinn had started pacing immediately.

Britt had watched for a while before settling herself onto the available seating. She was trying to work out what had gotten Quinn so worked up and why they were waiting for Santana to get back. It was obvious even to Britt that this had to be the case, San and Rach were the only people they knew for sure that were out and Quinn hadn't checked any other rooms on their way to the elevators. Plus Quinn had known where Santana was talking Rachel that night so the alarm had to be for the end of whatever show was running at the theater.

"Are you still freaking about Santana being your legal guardian?" Britt asks.

It had been a point of consternation from Quinn when Santana had come up with that particular solution when Quinn had needed someone to sign her permission slip. At first she had thought it was some joke which had been bad enough, but once she realized Santana was serious and that she could legally do it, Quinn had freaked a little.

"But don't you think it's odd?" Quinn asks "She's a month and a half younger than me for goodness sake!". Quinn is apparently distracted from her pacing as she plops herself down on the bench next to Britt. "I mean, I know she's emancipated and all, but how can she be legal guardian for someone older than herself? How can she be legally responsible for anyone? I can't believe being emancipated allows that!"

Britt shrugs, "I think it's more that it doesn't disallow it." When Quinn looks at Britt questioningly she continues "Emancipation means you become an adult in the eyes of the law, which means you have the rights and responsibilities of an adult. But they don't list what those rights and responsibilities are or make any exceptions." Britt shrugs again, "I guess they never thought it through."

Quinn is staring at Britt in surprise, "How do you even know that?"

Britt grins at Quinn, "I looked it up when San told us about it." She reaches over and takes Quinn's hand into her own. "Look, San promised not to go all 'I'm responsible for you' on you but if her acting as your legal guardian when she needs too is a problem for you, maybe you should think about emancipation"

Quinn sighs and shakes her head, "I can't Britt. I don't have any means of support and the money I get from my parents is only because Santana made them pay. If I was emancipated I wouldn't even get that. Anyway that's not what I'm worried about." She takes a breath and turns to Britt, "Santana made me promise not to tell anyone, but she's going to propose to Rachel tonight."

Britt beams one of those smiles that warms Quinn's heart and squeals a little in excitement, bouncing and clapping a little where she sits. But then her face clouds with confusion.

"But why are you worried? You know Rach will say yes."

"I know" Quinn confirms, "It's not the proposal that I'm worried about, it's the future."

"Okay…"

"It's just… It got me thinking. Santana and Rachel are getting ready to live the rest of their lives together. I mean, we knew it was going to happen because neither of them are going to walk away from those kids, but this makes it official. Whatever happens in their lives, they are going to have each other. When their sad they'll have someone to make them smile, when their ill they'll have someone to look after them, when they need someone to lean on for whatever reason, the other will be there. And honestly? Looking at the future, I'm scared I'm not going to have that with you."

"I don't understand" Britt says as the reaches out to take Quinn's hand, "I love you Quinn and I'm not going anywhere Quinn. Unless your tell me that you want to break up, I don't see why you'd be scared."

"But you are going somewhere Britt." Quinn sniffs before she continues, "In a year and a bit you're going to be back here going to college. You've dreamt of going to Julliard since you heard about the school and we both know you're a brilliant dancer so we both know you'll make it. Right?" Britt nods. "And Santana and Rachel will be here too, going to the schools they want to go to. But I won't be here Britt, I can't be."

"Why not?" Britt asks.

The tone of Britt's question makes Quinn's chest ache even more than it already had been. "For the same reason I can't be emancipated Britt, I can't afford it. My Dad doesn't want to support me right now and he's not going to want to pay for college, especially once I turn 18, and if by some miracle he does, it's going to be on his terms doing the course he wants me to do at the college he wants me to go to. And knowing him, he'll make sure it's as far away from wherever you are as possible just to spite me. No, the best I can hope for is a cheer scholarship to Ohio State and I know we can do the long distance thing but…" Quinn sighs, "A lot can happen in four years."

There's a long pause before Britt finally speaks, "Then I'll go to Ohio State with you. I'm sure…"

"No!" Quinn interrupts, "You can't Britt. You need to go to Julliard, you've always wanted to go there and you deserve to go there. It's the best dance school in the country and that's where you belong."

"But I don't want to go without you."

Britt was wearing that sad pout that made Quinn want to give her whatever she wanted, but this time Quinn knew she had to be strong because the only way she could see them being together was if Britt want to Ohio State with her and that wasn't going to happen. But before she could say anything, someone else spoke.

"You won't have to Britt, Quinn will be going to New York with us."

Neither blonde had heard the elevator arrive nor had they noticed the very people they had originally been waiting for stepping out. Santana had Rachel had been standing quietly listening to the two miserable girls talk and Rachel had squeezed the Latina's arm and looked at her with a pleading look and unshed tears in her eyes.

Quinn just sighs heavily, "I can't San. I…"

"I know, I heard." Santana interrupts, "But you're coming to New York and you'll attend whatever course at whatever school you want to."

"But…"

"Hear me out." Santana and Rachel cross to the bench and take the space on Quinn's right, "You remember I told you that my Aunt Sofia left me some money? Well there's enough of it to take us to New York, pay for us to go to whatever school we want, and support us while we're there, all of us." Santana looks at Britt, "Britt, I know your parents have been saving for your education but I also know your hoping for a scholarship so your little sister can go wherever she wants to when it's her turn. Well you don't have to worry about getting a scholarship anymore."

"But that's your money" Quinn points out the obvious, "You should be using it to support your family."

"I am Quinn. You are Britt are as much my family as Rachel and the babies are." Santana assures the blonde, "You've been like sisters to me for most of my life, you were there for me every time I needed you and now it's time for me to be there for you. Yeah I could keep the money or invest it in stocks and shares but what does that get me? More Money?" Santana shakes her head, "But this way not only do I get to keep my family together and make sure their happy, I get to invest in their future because I don't know what Doctor Quinn or Lawyer Quinn or Actor Quinn will achieve, but you can bet it's going to be more than Waitress Quinn ever would."

Both Rachel and Brittany are beaming at Santana while Quinn blinks back the tears that threaten to fall. "I… I don't know what to say" she admits.

Santana slides her free arm around Quinn's shoulders and pulls her into a one-armed hug, "Just say yes."

"Yes" Quinn nods, "And thank you."

"Good, now that's sorted…"

Santana is cut off by a sudden squeal of joy and then Britt has pulled Rachel up off of the bench and is spinning her around in the hallway and laughing.

"What the…?" Quinn says.

"Um, I think she may have seen this…" Santana says showing Quinn her ring after realizing it would have been on display to Britt given how the Latina was hugging Quinn. "And Britt, if you keep doing that you might find Rachel throwing up all over you."

Rachel is indeed feeling a little queasy as Britt puts her down and she's glad to be able to get back to her seat on the bench next to Santana and just watch as Britt dances and spins around in the corridor. Quinn is holding Santana's hand and examining the ring closely.

"You know as good as the drawing you did was, it totally didn't do this justice. It's gorgeous." Quinn says.

Rachel leans forward slightly to look at Quinn in confusion, "What drawing?"

"You didn't tell her?"

Santana shrugs, "The rings are custom Rach" she explains, "I wanted to give you something special so I designed the rings myself."

"Really?" Rachel is holding her hand out before her and gazing at the ring she's wearing, suddenly aware of the entire significance of the piece.

"Two hearts, one for you and one for me." Santana explains, "See, that's your birthstone and that one is mine. And they're going to be together forever."

"Like us." Rachel says a little dreamily.

"Yeah" Santana smiles and hugs her fiance, "Just like us."

* * *

Santana bangs twice more on the door, listens for a moment and then calls through the wooden partition, "If you two don't get your skinny asses out of bed I'm going to come in there and drag them out!"

Rachel is leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped around her stomach and watches her fiance with a smile as she tries to rouse Quinn and Britt.

"How do you know they are even still in there?" she asks, "They could have went down for breakfast already."

"Rachel, it is zero-dark-thirty in the morning and if I'd realized Mr Shue intended us to practice this early on a Sunday I'd never have said I'd follow his schedule. If I don't want to be up, they most certainly won't be." She pauses a moment to bang on the door again, "And anyway, it was you that thought you could hear them breaking in the bed all night."

It was true, Quinn and Britt had the room next to Santana and Rachel's and the diva had been sure she could hear bed springs from the other room late into the night. Santana's assurances that the walls were too thick to let sound through and that no bed in a hotel like this would actually squeak no matter how vigorously used hadn't placated Rachel.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Santana shouts as she produces a plastic card and slips it into the door lock. Rachel blinks in surprise as the door pops open.

"Where did you get that?"

"Where do you think?" Santana replies with a smirk, "For some reason the managers seem to like me here."

Rachel has no choice but to follow Santana through the door, closing it quietly behind her and discovering that Santana was indeed correct, the bed was still occupied with two blonde heads poking out from underneath the covers. The Latina is already half way to the window and a few steps later she's pulling the curtains open and turning towards the bed. Reaching down to a lump in the covers that she fervently hopes is a shoulder she gives the pair a shake.

"Come on you two, outta bed, now!"

There's a mutter that sounds like "Go away, sleeping" from the bed and given how close the two girls seem to be pressed up against each other, Rachel isn't sure which of them had spoken.

"Last chance blondes!" Santana, who seems to be rather enjoying herself, declares. "I'm counting to three. One, two…"

On the three Santana had grabbed the covers and in one fluid movement dragged them all the way down to the foot of the bed to drop them on the floor. Rachel turns away, her face heating up as she realizes that not only are they two girls intimately tangled up with each other, they are entirely naked. This fact doesn't seem to bother anyone else in the room and Rachel realizes that's probably due to them changing together for Cheerios practice all the time.

"What the fuck?" Quinn says as they both sit up and stretch, "What you do that for bitch?"

"We've got breakfast then practice so get your asses out of bed and hit the showers."

"Who died and made you god?" Quinn asks but without heat, they are both already climbing out of bed and heading to the shower.

"You've got twenty minutes to fuck and shower and then I'm dragging you out of there whether your done or not." Santana calls to the pair as they disappear into the en-suite. The only response Santana receives is the door slamming and the lock clicking into place.

Rachel crosses to settle on the padded window seat next to Santana and she chews her lip while her eyes drift towards the bathroom door.

"They wouldn't actually have sex in there when they know we're out here, would they?"

Rachel's question is punctuated by a rather loud moan and Santana grins. "Rach, when the three of us had sleep overs they would have sex while I was in the same bed as them. A locked door is nothing."

Rachel stares at Santana with an open mouth and the Latina grins as she reaches out and closes it with one finger. "Relax Rach, I never had sex with them and they always waited until I was asleep, but seriously who could sleep through that?" she asks just as someone moans loudly again.

"But… That's… I…"

Santana just shrugs, "That's Quinn and Britt."

Nineteen minutes and 55 seconds later the bathroom door swings open and Rachel averts her eyes once more, elbowing Santana until she does the same, as the two blondes exit the en-suite still totally naked except for the towels wrapped around their hair. Thankfully the didn't delay the process of getting dressed and within a few minutes they were all heading down the corridor towards the elevators and breakfast with the rest of the Glee club.

"So have you told your parents about the engagement?" Quinn asks.

"We called my Dads this morning." Rachel supplies, "Oddly, they didn't seem entirely surprised at the news."

Rachel was looking at Santana with suspicion but the Latina just shrugs.

"What about your parents San?" Britt asks.

"I got their answering service." Santana says flatly.

Neither Santana nor Rachel were surprised that they couldn't get in contact with Santana's parents. That was, after all, the reason Santana was emancipated, but it still hurt them both that they seemed to have so little interest in Santana's life. And even though Santana was sure they had been back in Lima at least once, they still hadn't responded to Santana's query about the still unexplained SUV sitting in the garage.

"So, how do you think everyone will react when you announce it at breakfast?" Britt asks as she bounces along beside Rachel.

"Actually" Rachel replies, "Santana and I have talked about this and we have decided, for the moment anyway, not to make any particular announcements about the engagement. The most important people in our lives already know where possible. Santana and I know, quite obviously. My father's know, Santana's parents will know whenever they pick up their messages" Rachel stops and turns towards Britt and Quinn, "And, if I may be so bold as to claim you two in the same way as Santana does, our sisters know…"

Rachel is immediately surrounded by Britt's long arms as the dancer hugs her tight and squeals almost directly into the diva's ear but, having learned her lesson from the previous night, she doesn't spin Rachel around this time. Quinn just smiles and squeezes Rachel's shoulder.

"Okay Britt… Too tight." Rachel manages with a kind smile and Britt releases her almost immediately. "As I was saying, our sisters know and the rest of our family knows and neither of us really feel the need to announce it to anyone else. If they ask, we will obviously confirm that we are indeed engaged, but that is all. Besides, with the competition only a few days away, the club really doesn't need the distraction right now."

The elevator arrives and they all crowed in. Quinn takes a moment to make use of the mirrored walls to examine both Santana and Rachel's left hands.

"Rach, your both wearing your rings." She points out.

"And?"

"If you think no one is going to notice that your both wearing over two carets of diamond on each of your ring fingers, you've got another thought coming." Quinn point out, "I'll give it two minutes and then… distraction."

* * *

In the end it took less than a minute from the time Rachel sat on the chair thoughtfully pulled out from the table for her by Santana until Mercedes let out a shout of surprise at almost the same moment Kurt almost choked on his orange juice. Technically Tina had noticed almost as soon as Rachel has sat down since she was sitting on the left hand side of the seat Rachel had chosen, but she had been so surprised by the overnight appearance of the ring that she had sat staring at it with her mouth half open until Mercedes shriek made her jump.

And Quinn was right, the distraction happened weather Rachel and Santana wanted it or not. All of the girls, including Britt and Kurt, wanted to know all the details of the proposal and even some of the boys offered questions. Rachel, despite her reluctance to make an announcement, was only too happy to recount ever moment and Santana sat and listened, her hand clasped around Rachel's, with a smile on her face.

At one point Britt leans over and demands in a whisper to Santana "You know your going to have to help me when I ask Quinn, right?"


	34. Chapter 34

"One more time, from the top!"

Apparently Mr Shue had forgotten what the words "One more time" actually meant since he'd said it at least five times in a row now and that was just for this particular song. Mind you they had never actually gotten to the end of the song though not for the want of trying. It was Monday, their second day of practice and the day before they were supposed to perform in the first stage of the contest the next day. Their solo and duet were pretty much perfect, even in Rachel's opinion, which meant that they just had the group number to work on.

Just.

Most people would have assumed that New Directions would be using this time to polish their performance, after all they've been through sectionals and regionals and they are now less than twenty four hours before they are due to perform. Except for some of them this is not the case and they only reason Rachel avoids getting a face full of the back of Finn's hand when he turns, arms thrown wide, at exactly the wrong moment was because it was exactly the same thing he'd done the last time.

Rachel had managed to duck the first one out of sheer luck.

"Right, I've had enough. Come on Rach, let's get out of here." Santana declares as she stalks across the room while glaring at Finn to take Rachel's hand.

Rachel opens her mouth to object, but Mr Shue beats her to it. "Santana! Rachel and Finn need to practice this until they can get it right!"

"No. You need someone that Finn can smack in the face until he can get simple choreography right. Rach already has this routine down step for step and right now all you're doing is risking everything by letting this ginormous lug anywhere near her as he thumps around the stage." Santana spits at Mr Shue as she gestures towards Finn, "Even ignoring the personal discomfort for a moment, any injury Rachel suffered because of this idiots inability to get his head round moves a toddler could master would screw any chance we have of even placing and you lot know it. Find someone else to put at risk, Rachel and I have someplace else to be."

Santana takes a somewhat surprised Rachel by the hand and leads her out of the room, along the corridor and towards the elevators. It isn't until they are in the elevator and heading up to their room that Rachel breaks the silence.

"Santana, I'm not entirely sure that was a good idea. Leaving like that does not exemplify good teamwork and that is, after all, what we are here for. Plus Finn will need someone to practice with if he's going to get good enough for us to actually win."

"Then let them find someone else for him to put in danger, he's not going to keep swinging his fists in your vicinity."

"Santana!"

"No Rach" Santana snaps in response. She takes Rachel's hand again as the elevator dings and leads the diva out into the corridor, "What happens when you get distracted by someone going flat, or one of our babies kick or you just get tired? What happens when you don't duck in time and you end up with a face full of fist?"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Rachel replies

"And normally I'd be fine with that, it's your decision after all, but right now it's not just a decision about you and I'm sorry but our babies come first."

They had arrived at their room and Santana was holding the door open for Rachel.

"I don't understand…" the diva says.

Santana lets the door close behind her, "Rach, what happens if you ended up with a broken nose?"

"Um, I don't know. I'd have to get it looked at I assume…"

"Pain killers for a start Rach, pretty strong ones because a smashed nose has got to hurt like fuck. And if it's really bad, if Finn managed to hit you hard enough to cause multiple breaks, they'd have to put you under to fix it. Think about that for a second Rachel."

"Santana, I'm pretty sure any procedure I required would be perfectly safe." Rachel says as she sits down on the end of the bed.

Santana sighs and runs her hand through her before crossing to crouch before Rachel, her hands resting on Rachel's knees. "Every time they give someone a general anaesthetic, no matter how fit they are or how minor the procedure, there is a tiny chance that they might not wake up again even if everything else goes perfectly. And it's not just you that would be at risk either Rach, but our children too. How am I supposed to live if I lost all three of you?"

Rachel reaches out and wipes away the single tear that had slid free of Santana's left eye, "But honey, if you think like that I'll never be able to leave our bedroom."

"I know and that's why I don't stop you getting in a car, or going to school, or getting on a plane and flying to New York to perform on stage in front of thousands of people." Santana actually manages a small smile, "Every day is a calculated risk, I know that and I know I can't wrap you in cotton wool until the babies are borne no matter how much I might want to. But you were getting tired and Finn was getting frustrated like he does when he keeps getting told he's doing something wrong, I could see it in both of you. The possibility of you getting hit was already well on its way to becoming a probability and then an inevitability and with the speed he's throwing those ham hocks he calls hands around, you know whoever he hits, it's going to be serious. It's not a risk I'm willing to take Rach."

"So you're willing to risk someone else?"

"More than I'm willing to risk you!" Santana takes a calming breath before continuing, "I'd risk myself before I'd risk you Rach. And anyway you know what Mr Shue will do, he'll get Britt to work with Finn and you know what she's like. Boundless energy and reflexes like a cat. He couldn't hit her if he tried."

Rachel spends a long moment looking at Santana then sighs, "Okay, fine. We'll let them practice for a few hours and then we'll go back down and run through it a few times with them" she concedes.

"If Finn is getting it right." Santana says, relief evident in her voice.

"If Finn is getting it right." Rachel agrees with a nod. Then a sly smirk appears on Rachel's lips as her eyes drop down Santana's body, "So, how are we going to go about killing a couple of hours."

Santana smirks but stands and turns to cross the room. But one of Rachel's hands has already slipped into the top of her sweat pants cupping Santana's growing erection through her compression shorts and Rachel's looking up at her with that pout and those doe-eyes that make every other part of the Latina melt.

"I wasn't kidding when I said we had somewhere to be Baby" Santana says even as she makes no move to stop her fiance pushing her sweat pants and shorts over her hips and letting them drop down her legs.

Rachel's fingers close around Santana's cock and the Latina moans as she pumps them along her length a few times, "Then we're just going to have to make do with a quick blow job."

"It's never just a quick… oh God!"

Santana pretty much lost the ability to speak as Rachel's lips closed around the head of her cock. She had sometimes thought her girlfriend could probably get a job as an industrial vacuum cleaner if she ever gave up on her dreams of Broadway and now of course, after many months of enthusiastic practice on both sides, Rachel knows exactly what to do to her to driver her mad.

And when Rachel has Santana's cock in her mouth, she has absolutely no mercy.

So it takes an embarrassingly short amount of time, during which Santana feels like the only reason she's actually still standing up is due to the suction Rachel is applying, before the Latina shouts a warning then pumps her seed into Rachel's waiting and very willing mouth. Santana's legs finally give out and somehow she manages to land on the bed next to Rachel looking up at the diva as she uses her tongue and a finger to guide any escaping drop of Santana's offering into her mouth as if it was fine caviar.

Santana has always been one to reciprocate, she has always loved giving as much as receiving with the right person at least, but as she reaches for Rachel, the diva pops up off of the bed and crosses the room to grab her coat.

"Rach…" Santana whines at the suddenly empty space beside her.

"Come on Santana, you said we had places to be."

"But Rach…"

For a moment Santana thinks she's about to get her way as Rachel crosses the room to bend down and kiss her, then Rachel pulls back and drops Santana's jacket on her head.

"Anyone would think it was you that had been left frustrated." Rachel says with a chuckle.

* * *

"Santana. Would you please explain to me what we are doing here of all places?"

Rachel is currently sitting in the rear of the town car, door open and addressing Santana who is outside and leaning against the side of the car while filing her nails.

"And where's the jet?" Rachel adds as she looks around the area of tarmac she first saw as she climbed down the jet stairway when they had arrived in New York.

"Babe, those things cost money even sitting on the tarmac. We've got it the day we arrived here and the day we go back, do you really think they'd leave it idle while we weren't using it? Especially when New York is one of their major markets."

"No I guess not" Rachel says as she frowns at the empty space on the apron where the plane had previously been parked, "But that still doesn't explain what we're doing here."

"Right now, we're waiting." Santana says smugly.

"Smart ass."

"Now who's frustrated." Santana says with a smirk.

"Santana Maria Lopez!" Rachel snaps.

Santana sighs dramatically, which causes Rachel to roll her eyes, then points out across the airport. "Do you recognize that?"

Rachel peers in the direction Santana is pointing and after a moment spots the small jet that is currently landing, "Is that our jet?"

"Yup."

"Is it coming here?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"You'll see." Santana says with a grin.

As they wait for the jet to reach the designated point they are joined on the airport apron by two minibuses wearing the livery of a hotel that the glee club wasn't staying at. By the time the jet arrives and the stairway has been rolled up to the side of it, Rachel has let her curiosity get the better of her and climbed out of the back of the town car. It takes a while for the door to open but as Santana had instructed, it is LeRoy and Hiram that are first to emerge.

"Dad! Daddy!" Rachel squeals.

She makes to run across the tarmac but Santana's already got her arms around the smaller girl and holds her back.

"Let them come to you honey."

Rachel glares at Santana for a moment but all is forgotten seemingly seconds later when the two men reach the town car. LeRoy actually picks Rachel up and spins her around once before planting her back on the tarmac again while Hiram is a little more restrained, simply pulling Rachel in for a hug and to receive the same kiss on the cheek that Rachel has just given LeRoy. Santana watches as Rachel greets her fathers and then receives her own hugs from the two men.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asks as she bounces on her toes in excitement, "How long are you here for? Will you be at the contest? And where are you staying?" she adds in rapid succession.

Both men laugh but it's LeRoy that manages to actually get a word in edge ways. "Santana had the idea of getting everyone out here for the contest before you all flew out and asked us to talk to all the other parents and make sure everyone made the plane."

"Everyone?" Santana asked. She hated the hopeful tone that the question had come out in but she couldn't help but hope that this once things would be different, even if history showed otherwise. Almost immediately she had her hope crushed when Hiram's expression changed.

"Sorry Santana, we did try but we couldn't even get your parents on the phone."

"No surprise there then." Santana says with a sigh.

Rachel squeezes Santana's hand but she knows by the expression on the Latina's face that this isn't the time so instead she turns back to her fathers and asks the question that has been worrying her for the since LeRoy had spoken.

"The Fabray's aren't here are they?"

LeRoy shakes his head, "No, we didn't invite them but the Pierces are here and I know they are all looking forward to seeing both Brittany and Quinn."

Rachel smiles in relief. Ever since Britt and Quinn had moved into the house they had spent many evenings over at the Pierce residence, one of the conditions Mrs Pierce had laid down when she allowed Britt to move in, and Rachel knew that Britt's parents considered Quinn as much their daughter as Britt was and would make it plain that they were there as much for Quinn as for Britt. Rachel wonders for a moment if Santana realizes that LeRoy and Hiram are there are much for the Latina as they are for her and just how fond the two men are of her fiance. Maybe not but Rachel promises herself that she'll correct that as soon as possible.

While they've been talking the rest of the parents and siblings along with their luggage have been transferred to the waiting buses and Santana suggests they all pile into the town car and follow them to the hotel the parents would be staying at. A different hotel to the one containing the New Directions since Santana didn't think the Glee club would be all that pleased about having their parents sprung on them like that.

Rachel's fathers climb into the town car but the girl herself pauses when she sees Santana smirking at her. "What?" she demands.

"I can't believe you kissed your fathers with that mouth."

Rachel's brows furrow as she tries to work out what Santana means then, after a moment of realization, her eyes go wide and her hand comes up to cover her mouth. In her haste to get out of the hotel room without giving Santana a chance to 'return the favor' as the Latina had put it, Rachel hadn't even thought about brushing her teeth or rinsing out her mouth.

"Oh my god, do you think they know?"

Santana steps closer, almost pinning Rachel against the flank of the car, and whispers in her ear "That the last thing between those lips before you kissed them was my cock?" Santana chuckles as and ghosts her hands over Rachel's hips, "That the last thing you swallowed was…"

"Santana!"

Rachel slaps her hand over the other girls mouth in an attempt to shut her up and then glares at her to be quiet when Hiram calls out from the car to check if everything is alright. When they climb into the car, both the men are looking at them oddly.

"Rachel honey, are you okay?" LeRoy asks, "You're looking a little flushed."

Santana's pretty sure Rachel turns even redder at that and has to muffle her laugh with her hand.

"Yes Dad" Rachel replies, "Just, you know… pregnancy hormones."

"You're not running out of batteries are you?" Hiram asks with a raised eyebrow as he looks between Rachel and Santana.

Rachel makes a strangled noise and buries her suddenly burning red face in her hands as Santana looks on with a smirk. LeRoy looks between his daughter and his husband in confusion.

"What is it with you two and batteries?" he demands.

He looks back and forth between the two helplessly for a moment before turning to Santana who just shrugs and turns to look out the window.

"So where's the ring?" Hiram asks after a few seconds, changing the subject for the rest of the journey.

* * *

They got all of the parents settled in their hotel with little difficulty and returned to their own just in time to watch Finn actually manage to get the routine right for once. Mr Shue tried to get Rachel to take her place as soon as she walked through the door, but Santana wasn't having it.

"Not until I'm happy that he knows what he's doing!" she declared.

And so she watched with a critical eye while Britt and Finn went through the routine perfectly three more times before she grudgingly allowed Rachel to take her place. But still she held her breath every time Finn got anywhere near Rachel until, finally, Mr Shue declared then ready and told them all to rest up for the night and be ready for a quick practice warm up the next morning.

Santana and Rachel grab Britt and Quinn and lead them away from the rest of the club.

"This is supposed to be a surprise for everyone else" Santana explains to the two blondes, "But most of the clubs parents are in New York for the competition tomorrow. Rach and I are going to have dinner with her Dads tonight and I thought you two might want to have dinner with Britt's parents and sister."

Britt squeals in pleasure and claps a little before throwing her arms around Santana but Quinn just gives Santana a little sad smile before turning her attention to Britt. Santana reaches out and places a hopefully comforting hand on Quinn's arm.

"You still miss them?"

Quinn shrugs, "I miss my Mom. I try not to but sometimes…"

"You've got the Pierces though" Santana says trying to improve Quinn's suddenly melancholy mood, "And I know Britt's little sister treats you like a princess."

Quinn actually blushes and shrugs a small shrug, "I think she might have a little bit of a crush on me." She admits.

Suddenly Britt appears behind Quinn, her arms wrapping around the other blondes torso and chin restring on her shoulder, "Not so much a little crush, try a total infatuation" Britt says, "But she can't have you, you're mine and I'm not letting you go."

Quinn turns her head so she can give her girlfriend a little peck on her lips, "And I'm not going anywhere Britt-Britt."

"Okay!" Santana interrupts, "Enough of this love fest. You two need to go get cleaned up and changed for dinner, there's a distinct lack of freshness around here." Santana smirks as Quinn rolls her eyes. "Half an hour and then Rach and I will come get you. And we'll have a car waiting so don't be late!" she calls after the quickly retreating forms of the two blondes.

* * *

"So, what exactly is the procedure for the competition?" LeRoy asks.

Rachel, Santana and the Berry men are enjoying their evening meal in one of the restaurants at their hotel. It wasn't as fancy as the hotel the glee club was staying at, but both Rachel and Santana were glad they had taken the time to dress up a little. Not at least because they were very close to being shown up by Rachel's fathers.

When the girls had arrived they had found the two men, dressed in their best suits no less, propping up the bar and enjoying a drink, virgin versions they insisted, in the hotel lounge and apparently completely oblivious to some of the interested looks they were getting from a number of apparently single women dotted around the lounge. Rachel's arrival and loud greeting of "Dad! Daddy!" caused a number of disappointed looks. Santana was pretty sure she heard at least one woman mutter "Why are all the cute ones gay?"

Thankfully their table was soon ready and they were ushered through to the restaurant where Rachel was pleasantly surprised at the range of vegan options on the menu. It took some time but eventually everyone decided upon their order but soon they were settling down to enjoy their starters. Rachel and Santana look to each other and the Latina gestures for the diva to answer.

"Well, there are twenty one groups competing in total. Each group gets a maximum fifteen minutes to perform and then there's five minutes for the judges to confer and for any stage work to get done. There's a fifteen minute break in the middle of the morning session and in the middle of the afternoon session and a half hour break between the two sessions to allow parents to arrive and leave."

"Do you know when your group is performing?" Hiram asks.

"We've got the first slot after lunch." Santana supplies.

"Is that good?"

Both Santana and Rachel shrug, "There are so many groups, we don't really know if any slot is good or bad." Rachel says.

"The judges might be sleepy after lunch or could be energized because they just had a break, it's anyone's guess." Santana adds.

Rachel nods and grins, "But we're pretty sure they'll be awake when we're done."

"So after the performances, then what?"

"They'll select the top nine and post the names at around 8pm tomorrow in a randomly selected running order for the next day, so no one knows who's leading the pack." Santana says, "Then those selected do it all again."

"And the top three from that group will perform again in the afternoon. And then, sometime later depending on how long the judges take, the first three places will be presented on stage."

"So we won't have an idea of how you're doing until the day after tomorrow?"

"We'll know tomorrow evening if we've made the last nine and soon after lunch the day after if we made the last three." Santana says with a shrug.

"And do you need to have a different set list for each performance?" LeRoy asks.

Rachel shakes her head, "In fact the rules state the opposite, you must perform the same set. You can only change singers or make other adjustments if someone falls ill or is otherwise unable to perform. And then you have to get the judge's permission first."

Conversation turns to other topics for the rest of the meal until everyone is enjoying their deserts. Or rather mostly everyone, Santana is picking at her desert and Rachel recognizes the expression the Latina wears when she's thinking hard about something.

"Is everything alright honey?" Rachel asks quietly to her girlfriend.

Santana looks at Rachel for a long minute then seems to decide something. Instead of answering Rachel privately she turns to take in all the people at the table. "Rachel, LeRoy, Hiram, I have something to ask the three of you." She makes sure she has the complete attention of all three of her dinner companions before she takes a deep breath and continues.

"You all know I asked Rachel to marry me a few days ago" she turns to smile at Rachel, "And that she honored me by accepting. Well I only plan on getting married once…"

"Just as well." Hiram says but his smile show's there's no heat in the statement.

"Well, that's going to make you two my father-in-laws for quite a long time." Santana says, "So I was just wondering…"

When Santana falls silent Rachel slides her hand into her fiances and gives it an encouraging squeeze. Santana smiles at her again before she turns back to the two men.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd mind if I started calling you Dad and Daddy, like Rach does?" she asks a little nervously, her eyes dropping to her hands as she fiddled with her spoon.

Rachel's hand shoots up to cover her mouth so that she doesn't shout out in surprise. She had no idea that Santana had even thought about how the Latina addressed her fathers or was actually considering changing it, never mind that she was actually doing it before the two men could technically be called her fathers. And she would effectively be placing them on par with her own father, a man who Rachel couldn't recall the last time she or Santana had spoken to. It was a small thing on the face of it but Rachel instinctively understood how important and significant it was to Santana and from the glances she got from her fathers, she knew they understood too.

"What about your own father?" Hiram asks carefully.

Santana just shrugs, "I call him Papi" she says without looking up.

The Berry men glance at each other than at Rachel, who nods very slightly.

"Santana, Hiram and I would be honored if you'd call is Dad and Daddy." LeRoy says for both of them.

Rachel and her fathers are surprised for the second time in a few minutes when Santana rises from her chair and almost throws herself into a hug with the two men.


	35. Chapter 35

Rachel was pretty sure she was lost. Actually, scratch that, Rachel was positive that she was lost. From the outside the theater that New Directions had arrived at shortly before lunch hadn't seemed all that large but apparently that had been an optical illusion and they were guided through a warren of back stage passageways by a member of staff to the room they were supposed to prepare in. They were all warned not to wander off.

Except when your four and a half months pregnant with twins that feel like they are tap dancing on your bladder, waiting in a queue to use the bathroom isn't something that's going to happen any time soon. There are pieces of paper taped to the walls all over the place with arrows pointing to snack machines, in the direction of the stage, to the door to front of house and to at least three different bathrooms. Rachel had found that all of these were currently in use.

So Rachel turned away from the signed posted paths, wandering the myriad of corridors until she finally found a bathroom that she would have described as abandoned except that it was well stocked with all the supplies anyone would expect in such a place and some Rachel certainly didn't, like that mornings New York Times folded next to the sink.

When she emerged a few minutes later she discovered the flaw in her plan. She had no idea how to get back to their practice room and with only about ten minutes before she was due on stage to perform her solo, she didn't have much time to figure it out. She should be using this time to warm up, to prepare her voice for the task ahead, not running through a warren of corridors like some poor mouse trapped in a maze.

She's just about to reach for her phone to ask Santana to send out the search parties when she turns one last corner and almost walks right into a small group of three girls from one the competing clubs.

"Well, well. Look who we have here." One of the girls says, turning to examine Rachel but obviously addressing her compatriots. "Isn't this the supposed star of New Directions?"

Rachel backs up unconsciously as the three girls approach and it's only when she feels the wall against her back that she realizes she has nowhere to go.

"I heard the rumors, but until you actually see it…" another says obviously eying Rachel's baby bump.

"I know, it's just you'd never think she'd be able to trick someone into knocking her up."

"Must have been a hell of a lot of alcohol consumed at that party…"

"Uh-huh."

"You have to wonder…" A third added, "With all the mystery about the baby Daddy, I'd say she didn't actually know."

The first girl laughs, "But that would mean she actually managed to get more than one guy between her legs" she observes, "And there's nowhere near enough alcohol on the planet for that."

"You know it doesn't really matter, as soon as she steps out onto the stage New Directions are done." The third girl leans forward and stage whispers to Rachel "One of the judges is a very old school Catholic. Teenage pregnancy out of wedlock? _Big_ no-no."

Rachel, who has been somewhat back-footed by the non-stop taunts, finally manages to pull herself together, "This contest is about talent and skill, something New Directions have plenty of, and not religious bias and bigotry. I'm sure the judges will do their jobs properly and we'll be perfectly fine, thank you very much."

"Oh Please. People like that? They look at the world through their biases no matter how impartial they claim to be. Face it Berry, if you step out on that stage, New Directions are sunk."

"Like they have a chance without her." The first girl points out before turning back to Rachel, "Not planning on doing the solo were you?" she adds with a smirk.

"Hey Bitches! Back the fuck off from my fiancée!"

The three girls turning towards the sound of Santana's voice gives Rachel a gap between them where she can see not just Santana but also Quinn and Britt marching along the corridor towards them.

"Engaged to another girl?" the first girl asks rhetorically, "This just gets better and better."

"Shouldn't you three actually be back in your practice room actually trying to remember your dance steps?" Santana taunts, "What were you doing back here anyway, shooting up?"

"Oh please, like we'd need any pharmaceutical assistance to crush the likes of you." But the three were already heading down the corridor back towards the practice rooms. "Remember what we said Berry!"

"Don't listen to them Rach" Santana says as she watches the other girls retreat down the corridor, "They're just trying to get inside your head cause they know they have no chance of winning any other way."

Rachel watches the three girls go as well, lower lip trapped between her teeth and deep in thought. Santana can see it as soon as she turns back to her but she decides that they don't have time to go in to it right now, they are due on stage in only a few minutes.

"Are you okay Rach? What are you doing back here anyway, I thought you were just going to the toilet?"

"I'm fine" Rachel replies, pulling herself from her thoughts, "I was, but they were all in use. I found one back there" she gestures down the corridor she had walked along, "but I couldn't find my way back and then I bumped into those three."

Santana nods and makes a mental note that later, when they have time, she's going to have to talk to Rachel about this and make sure she's okay and if not, someone was going to pay. But right now, as much as she hated not being able to take care of Rachel properly right then, they had to get to the stage or they would miss the whole reason for being in New York in the first place.

The Latina reaches out and slides her hand into Rachel's, giving it what she hopes is a reassuring squeeze and a smile, "Come on, the show must go on."

It takes them less than twenty seconds to arrive at the stage wing since Santana seems to know exactly where she's going and they still have a couple of minutes to spare before Rachel should be front and center for her solo. The rest of New Directions are already clustered together on one side of the space. Santana had told everyone that morning that their families were going to be in the audience and that had made most of them even more nervous than they had been but what seems to be unsettling them now is the rather irate man is stomping back and forward in the free space and randomly snarling things into his headset.

"What's going on?" Quinn asks.

"One of the judges didn't come back from lunch. The crew are trying to find him." Kurt offers, gesturing at the man Rachel assumes is the stage manager.

"Fuck!" He chooses that moment to curse loudly then turns to face the glee club, "Your set start time is delayed ten minutes" he says to no one in particular before stalking away.

All that means is they have another ten minutes to allow their nerves to get the best of them. They mill around, some talking quietly, some going through their parts of the routine and Finn just shifts from foot to foot as he stares at a point on the floor. At five minutes the stage manager reappears and warns them to be ready before disappearing again as if he hadn't really been there.

For the first time ever Rachel feels vaguely nauseous as she contemplates the empty stage stretching before her and she's not sure if it's down to nerves or the twins that seem to be performing somersaults in her belly.

"Someone else should sing the solo."

The words passed Rachel's lips before the thought had fully coalesced in her mind but hearing herself say them only validates the thought. It takes her a moment to realize that pretty much all the glee club were staring at her as if she has just declared that she wasn't going to bother with Broadway at all but would be very happy working at the Lima library or selling real estate for the rest of her life.

"What?" she asks in confusion.

"You don't want to sing the solo?" Kurt asks in obvious disbelief.

Rachel glances away, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes. "It appears one of the judges holds very strong religious beliefs" Rachel explains as her arms unconsciously move to wrap around her stomach, "And won't appreciate some of my life choices."

There's a moment of silence that only persuades Rachel that everyone else agrees with her, but then Santana speaks up.

"And who do you think is going to be able to pull a solo out of their asses at less than five minutes' notice? That's something you can do, but none of the rest of us can."

"You can sing Valerie, or Mercedes can …"

"Oh Hell to the no." The diva cut's Rachel off, "Rachel, if anyone but you goes out there we will lose and we'll have lost because we didn't give out best. If you go out there and we lose because of some assholes prejudice, then at least we can say we gave it our best and we were as good if not better than everyone else."

There's a general rumble of agreement from the rest of the glee club just as the stage manager calls "Places!"

Santana pulls Rachel off to one side, "Baby you don't have to do this if you don't want to. But I have faith in you, we all have faith in you and it doesn't matter what one asshole judge thinks. Go out there and blow them all away and if we do go home after this round then we'll know we did our best."

"We came here to do our best to win…" Rachel begins

"And anyone else going out there to solo won't be our best. You're our best Rachel and to us it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."

"Look, I don't particularly care who goes out there, but someone better go out there and sing a solo or you will all be going home." The stage manager says, "Time's ticking people!"

Rachel isn't entirely sure how she ended up standing center stage behind the lone microphone stand except that she knows she got there under her own power. One moment she was looking back at the other members of the glee club all waiting for her eyes were skipping over the judges table and searching out her fathers sitting front and center and smiling broadly. She lifts her arms from where they are wrapped around her stomach, not exactly subtle but then it wasn't like they wouldn't notice her condition, pulls the microphone from its stand and when the music swells she starts to sing.

The standing ovation that New Directions received continued for so long that not only was it still going on after the glee club had been ushered off the stage but the extremely irritated stage manager ended up grabbing a microphone and going on stage to ask people to settle down so that the next group could perform.

They didn't wait at the theater, there was really no point since there was still so many other groups waiting to perform and not even Rachel wanted to watch all of them, so they went back to their hotel but they didn't split up either, instead they all gravitated towards the practice room they had been using for the last few days.

Santana made a discrete call and shortly after the nearly empty room was populated with enough comfortable sofas for everyone and two large screen televisions were set up at either end of the room, one complete with games console and a selection of games and the other that was quickly hooked up to a laptop to stream movies from Netflix.

Food and beverages came next, delivered by the trolley load and set up on a long table along one side of the room so that people could help themselves. Club members disappeared for a few minutes to change and came back carrying books, magazines or iPods but they all came back and within about half an hour they had all changed out of their costumes and had settled in to the practice room for what was bound to be a long wait.

Rachel had found her way into Santana's lap on the couch they had appropriated. Britt had brought out her pout until everyone at the movie end of the room had agreed to watch Tangled and they were about half of the way through, and Rachel appeared to be dozing off, when Mr Shue's laptop played its new email notification. The movie and video game were pause, magazines and books were laid down and everyone turned towards the laptop.

"It's too early" Quinn observes, "They can't have seen all the other clubs yet."

Mr Shue is already tapping away at the keyboard to unlock the screen and he spends a few moments frowning at the screen.

"Well it is from the competition committee" he finally says, "It appears one of the judges, Father McGuire, had a severe allergic reaction to something he ate at lunch and is spending the rest of the week in hospital."

Santana can't stop the grin that spreads across her lips and when she glances at Rachel, she's rather surprised to find her frowning.

"How's that going to effect the judging?" the diva asks.

"It's not." Mr Shue says, "They had a standby judge just in case who scored all the morning performances too. They'll discard Father McGuire's scores and use the standby judge's instead. That way no one can complain about inconsistent scoring." He looks up at the others in the room and shrugs, "That's it."

"Well that's good news" Santana comments to Rachel as everyone goes back to what they were doing.

Rachel turns to stare at the Latina with her mouth open is surprise, "How can anyone falling ill be good news?!" she demands, "Something that causes him to end up in hospital has to be pretty serious."

"True Rach, but Father McGuire?" Santana says, "A judge with strong religious beliefs that wouldn't appreciate your life choices? He can't score us down any more."

Rachel just looks at Santana for a moment then crosses her arms and huffs. "Now I'm conflicted."

Santana laughs, wraps her arms around the smaller girl and pulls her back down against her body, "Let's just worry about the standings and let the doctors look after the priest."

Rachel had fallen asleep by the time the computer plays it's notification again, head resting on Santana's shoulder and the Latina's arms wrapped around her holding her securely in place. Santana honestly didn't mind that Rachel was pretty much using her like a living body pillow, she just loved the chance to be able to hold her fiancée and her babies. But despite the fact that the notification was nowhere near the loudest noise in the room, Rachel was instantly awake and sat bolt upright.

The movie and video game got paused again and for the second time that day a nervous hush falls over the practice room only broken by the tap of Mr Shue typing his password into the laptop. He spends so much time reading the content of the message that the glee club members are glancing back and forth wondering what's going on.

He straightens up and sighs, "Well. I guess we should all get a good night's sleep tonight since we have to perform again tomorrow. We're in the last nine!"

There's a beat of silence then it seems everyone is talking at once, Kurt and Mercedes actually manage to break out into song. Rachel just leans back into Santana.

"Let's head upstairs and go to bed." She whispers into the Latina's ear.

"Babe, it's not even 9pm. We can go upstairs if you want, but if I go to sleep now I'll be awake way too early in the morning and then I'll be dozing off tomorrow night when we're at the theater with your parents."

"We're going to the theater with _our_ parents?" Rachel asks. The emphasis on the 'our' didn't go unnoticed by Santana.

"Um, yeah. Guess I didn't mention that but you don't think they'd come to New York and not see a show did you? Anyway, my point stands."

Rachel shrugs, a twinkle in her eye. "Who says anything about sleeping?"

* * *

The next morning went a lot more smoothly than the previous day, even though Rachel and Santana found it a little more difficult to climb out of bed than they'd like anyone to know. When they got to the theater Rachel found herself with an Unholy Trinity guard whenever she decided to go anywhere that wasn't their warm up room. On Rachel's first trip to the bathroom (they were going to be there hours, it was inevitable there were going to be more) she was mortified when Quinn and Brittany parked themselves at the head of the queue glaring at everyone waiting while Santana thumped on the door demanding whoever was in there better get a move on.

"What?" Brittany demanded when someone pointed out there was a queue, "Are you really going to make a pregnant girl wait?"

Her icy tone even caused Rachel to shudder but there were no more objections after that.

The performance itself was even better than the previous day. Without the worry of an objectionable judge, Rachel's performance was flawless and Quinn and Puck's duet was just as perfect. Santana was holding her breath for the group number, she was half expecting Finn to screw everything up by forgetting all the practice he had done and spinning round at the wrong moment, but surprisingly even he managed the routine perfectly and this time the stage manager didn't even wait for the club to clear the stage before he had grabbed a microphone and was shouting at everyone to sit down.

Since they had been drawn the third performance slot they basically had two and a half hours before they'd find out the results and the warm up room was nowhere near as comfortable or distracting as their practice room back at the hotel. No-one even suggested leaving though, they all had books, hand held games consoles, iPod or phones to keep them busy but it was rather unnerving to hear the clapping of the crowed every twenty minutes or so.

The absolute worst was the wait once all the groups had performed. In an attempt to avoid a repeat of the previous year, when a scuffle had turned into a brawl when every member of the last nine choirs had tried to see the results list at the same time, the choir directors were getting early access to the list on the condition that their choir members remain in their respective warm up rooms.

Mr Shue had left about ten minutes previously and everyone had given up any pretense of distraction as soon as he had stepped out of the door and were now all waiting, some literally on the edge of their seats, for him to return.

"Okay everyone." He said when he returned, "An hour for lunch but don't go too far and don't eat anything too heavy, you have to perform again this afternoon.

* * *

"This is the bit I hate the most…"

Santana and Rachel could both agree with Quinn's statement as they stood with the rest of the glee club and Mr Shue clustered at one end of the stage. Next to them The Portland Scale Blazers was similarly clustered center stage and beyond them stood Vocal Adrenaline, the third and final of the finalists. New Directions had drawn the last performance slot and they had barely been back in their warm up room for ten minutes before they had been summoned back out onto the stage.

"If they were going to keep us waiting this long they could have let us do it in the practice rooms." Rachel says as she shifts from one foot to the other.

They had been standing on the stage for almost ten minutes now and Rachel felt like she was under a microscope. It might have been her imagination but it seemed every time she looked out into the crowed, she spotted people looking back at her with judgmental expressions and even Santana's arms around her waist and the Latina's body pressed against her back wasn't enough to comfort her.

Her discomfort must have been noted because she's surprised a moment later when her view of the audience, and therefore the audience's view of her, is blocked by the bodies of Quinn and Brittany. The two girls appear to be milling around randomly just like everyone else, but they are also very deliberately keeping themselves between Rachel and the audience and the diva can't help but smile her gratitude to the two blondes. Brittany winks at her in return.

The trophies are already sitting front-and-center on the stage, the envelopes that everyone is pretty sure contains the results are sitting next to them on the table and apparently forgotten by the judges and host who are standing arguing the far stage wings. No one on New Directions had a clue to what's going on until one of the members of the Scale Blazers ambles over to Kurt, who just happened to be closest to them, and says something to him.

Kurt looks at the judges in disgust before turning to the rest of the glee club. "Apparently" he says after taking a deep breath, "They are arguing over who gets to do the presentation. The priest was supposed to do it but obviously can't."

"Oh you are fucking me." Santana groans and Rachel can pretty much feel the other girl rolling her eyes.

"You're not my type Santana." Kurt says rather dryly.

It takes another five minutes before the host apparently has had enough and marches onto the stage and grabs the envelopes that contain the results.

"Let's get this done before we die of old age." He grumbles into the mic, "In third place, from Portland, Oregon, The Portland Scale Blazers."

The group accept their trophy with obviously, to Rachel at least, fake smiles and good cheer before retiring from the stage. The remaining two groups shuffle closer to centre stage as the host rips open another envelope without any ceremony.

"And in first place" he pauses for a moment as he reads the card, "From Lima, Ohio, the New Directions!"

He goes on to announce Vocal Adrenaline's second place but no one can really hear him over the cheering and clapping. Someone comes forward with the trophy and for a moment no one steps forward to accept it until Santana gives Rachel a gentle push and quiet "Go on." Rachel steps forward to receive the trophy that is almost as tall as she is and she giggles when Santana gets handed the bouquet of flowers.

The Latina attempts to scowl as she shoves the flowers blindly at the nearest person who didn't have their hands full but she is still grinning too widely about their win to actually pull it off. Quinn in turn presents the bouquet to Brittany and accompanies it with a celebratory kiss.

* * *

"Whoever you are" Santana croaks into her phone early-ish the next morning, "You'd better have a damn good reason for calling me."

Rachel can't help but grin at grouchy Santana. After a celebratory party in the practice room at the hotel, they had indeed gone out to catch a show with Rachel's fathers and the two man had kept them out later than either of them intended. In the end Santana and Rachel had made their excuses, left the two men to it and returned to the hotel. While they had gone to bed almost as soon as they got back, it had been quite a while before they had actually fallen asleep.

They had expected to have a nice long lie before they had to wave the parents off from the airport early that afternoon, but instead their sleep was interrupted mid-morning when Santana's phone had rung. They had ignored it the first time, but when whoever it was had called again, Rachel had nudged Santana into answering.

"You are shitting me." Santana says after listening for a few moments.

Rachel made a mental note to talk to Santana about her language, but the response had peeked the diva's interest in the conversation and she wished she could hear both sides.

"Okay, where are they?" Santana reaches out and grabs a notepad and pen from the bedside table and scribbles something down while saying "Uh-huh" every so often. "Right. I'll be there in, um… an hour or so."

She hangs up the phone and flops back onto the bed.

"You are not going to believe who we're going to have to go bail out of jail." She says after a moment, "And why."

* * *

When Santana had been planning this trip she had resigned herself to bailing someone out of jail at some point, she was pretty sure the glee club would never be able to spend a whole week in New York without someone getting in to trouble. She'd bet on Puck initially because, well he was Puck and could probably get in trouble if he was the only person in the state. Or maybe Finn since he was gullible enough to let Puck get him into trouble.

She didn't expect to be bailing out Quinn and Brittany.

"What exactly are you charging them with?" Santana demands of the officer behind the desk.

It had taken them half an hour and faxes from her lawyer back in Lima to persuade the cop that she was indeed both emancipated and responsible for Quinn. Thankfully the guy with the badge hadn't asked who was responsible for Brittany, but Santana's pretty sure the Pierces would see this as a life lesson anyway.

"Indecent exposure and Public Lewdness." The officer said with indifference.

"Which means?"

The cop sighs and puts down the pen he'd been writing with, "Your blonde friends decided to have sex in a changing room. One of the staff walked in and found them" he pauses and picks up a piece of paper Santana takes to be a statement and reads from it, "'going at it like rabbits.' And that's a quote."

"So this was a communal changing room?" Santana asks.

"No, it was an individual room."

"Without a door?"

"With a door."

Santana nods, "But they left it open? Or at least unlocked?"

The officer consults another statement before answering. "No, one of the store assistants thought they were up to something and used the store master key to open the door."

"And I'm assuming there were no windows or security camera's in this changing room?" Santana asks.

"Camera's would be illegal." The officer says flatly.

"So they were in a locked room where they had an expectation of privacy and where most people would expect women to be in various states of undress while they tried on clothes and the only reason the store assistant actually saw them was because she unlocked and opened a locked door when she knew there was at least one person possibly in a state of undress in the room. How do you get indecent exposure or public lewdness from that?"

* * *

It took about half an hour to get the paper work sorted out and then Santana was shown into the interview room where the two girls had been left. Thankfully, and in deference to their age, they hadn't been put in a cell or subjected to questioning so their morning had been pretty much sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs staring at walls painted an uniform industrial grey. Quinn looks suitably mortified when Santana walks into the room.

"Hi San!" Britt greets the Latina in her normal bubbly manner complete with wave.

"Hi Britt, Q."

"Just get it over with Santana." Quinn sighs as her head thumps down onto her arms which are crossed on the table in front of her.

"I think you've got more to worry about then me Q" Santana says catching Britt's attention and giving her a wink and a grin. The blonde catches on quickly and grins back. "They're charging you with Indecent exposure and Public Lewdness. You're going to have to go to court, stand up in front of a courtroom full of people and tell them what you did…"

"Public…!" Quinn's head shoots up, "But we were in a locked room!"

"Technically yes…" Santana says slowly, "But the room was in a public building…"

Quinn's head thumps back down onto her arms, "Fuck."

Santana walks over to the table and perches on the edge of it. "You know, I paid for a room for you two for a reason. Couldn't you keep it in your pants, or rather your sundress, until you got back there? I mean come on Q, you've never done something this stupid before."

"It's New York" Quinn says after a moment as if that explained everything.

Santana supposed it did, or rather the fact it's not Lima explained everything.

"You've got to find us a lawyer Santana, what about that guy you use back on Lima?" Quinn asks suddenly.

"He's corporate, not criminal." Santana replies as she fights to keep the mirth from her face, "And anyway, you'll get a public defender assigned to you."

"Great, some overworked under qualified wannabe lawyer. I'll be on death row before the weeks out."

Santana chuckles, "And you call Rachel dramatic. I doubt it'll be that bad Q. A fine and a few months suspended maybe. It's your first offence after all."

"There's got to be some way to get us out of this." Quinn says, apparently to herself, "I can't go to jail in New York! I've still got to graduate!"

Santana finally loses it and bursts out laughing.

"This isn't funny Santana!" Quinn snaps.

"Actually, it kinda is." She stands and walks over to the door, knocking for it to be opened since there was no handle inside and gestures towards the corridor with her head, "Come on you two, let's get out of here."

"What?" Quinn asks in confusion as Brittany skips out of the room.

"Your off the hook Q, I took care of it." Santana explains as she heads out of the room.

Quinn stares after the Latina's retreating form for a moment, "Bitch!" she calls as she heads to the door.

"Language Q!"


	36. Chapter 36

Quinn could feel her face burning with embarrassment as she follows Santana, Britt and the officer escorting them through the hallways of the police station.  She could feel the eyes of the people they pass boring into her as they walked through the maze that made up the station. She felt like everyone already knew what she and Britt had been caught doing and honestly she wouldn’t be surprised if they did, gossip was probably the only thing that moved faster than doughnuts around here.  It didn’t help that Santana kept making inappropriate comments as they walked.

It also didn’t help when the officer escorting them sent them through the front door of the building with the comment “You two girls behave yourselves now, okay?” but at least they are out of there and fresh air has never felt so good.  That is, of course, when Santana turns on Quinn.

“God damn it Quinn, you really need to be more careful.  Do you realize just how close you came to being in serious trouble today?!”

“Look, I get it” Quinn says rather surprised at the sudden change in Santana’s attitude, “But we were in a locked room.  I didn’t think…”

“No you obviously didn’t think” Santana interrupts, “And I don’t think you do get it.  If those cops hadn’t done such a half-assed job for some reason you could very well have screwed up the rest of your life!”  When Quinn just looks blank Santana sighs and runs a hand through her hair,  “When was your seventeenth birthday Q?”

“February the 1st, you know that Santana.”

“And Britt’s?”

“June…” Quinn starts.

Santana cuts her off, “Exactly.  Obviously it’s escaped your attention that the age of consent in New York isn’t sixteen like it is at home, it’s seventeen Quinn.  Seventeen!”  Santana holds up one hand, tips of her forefinger and thumb held close together, “You just came this close to getting charged with statutory rape and I seriously doubt I could have talked them out of that one.  So you are damn lucky that those cops weren’t paying attention today Q or you may well have ended up spending the next few years at Rikers Island.”

Quinn could feel the blood drain from her face as she turned to Britt, “Shit.”

“Yeah, Shit.” Santana pokes the other girl with her finger as she rants, “There’s a time and place for things like that Q and you have to learn to recognize them.  And to be aware of the consequences if you’re caught.  A dressing room at Macy’s…”

“It wasn’t Macy’s” Quinn interrupts.

But Santana continues as if the other girl hadn’t spoken “… where any staff member with a key can walk in and you _know_ they’re going to be on the lookout for anyone acting odd?  Not a good choice Q, not a smart choice at all.  I really don’t know how you got away with it but you have been exceedingly lucky today.”

“I gave them your date of birth Santana.” Britt says quietly.

Santana and Quinn’s head swivel round for them to both gape at Brittany.  Like Quinn, Santana was already seventeen so giving her date of birth would have made the police believe that Brittany too was over the local age of consent.

 “Well I’m glad one of you was thinking.”  Santana says as she runs her hand through her hair and glances around, “Even if that was unbelievably risky Britt.  Now both of you, in the car.”

Santana gestures towards a stretched limo with heavily tinted windows that is sitting at the curb looking seriously out of place next to the assorted police cars surrounding it.  A uniformed chauffer is standing next to the rear door and hastens to swing it open as they approach.  Britt climbs in first, quickly followed by Quinn who glances around the interior before turning to Santana.

“Where’s Rachel?”

Quinn had expected to see Santana climbing into the car behind her but instead she’s standing in the doorway with just her head inside the vehicle.

“She’s back at the hotel.  Do you seriously think I’d bring my pregnant fiancée to a place like this?” Santana grins a little, “You never know when she’s get knocked over by a couple of horny teenagers trying to escape the long arm of the law.”

“Santana, I get it…”

“Time and place Q, keep that in mind.  Store dressing rooms, no.  The back of a limo with tinted windows and locked doors…”  Santana grins and winks at the two blondes who are looking at her with open mouths, “Just press the intercom button when you’re done and tell the driver to take you back to the hotel.  Get this sex in a public place thing you seem to have out of your system and please do me a favor keep it in your hotel room at least until we get back to Ohio.  I really don’t want to get into the habit of bailing you two out.”

“Santana…!”

Quinn’s horrified squeak barely makes it past the closing door of the limo and the driver takes that as a signal to pull out into traffic leaving a grinning Santana standing on the sidewalk.  The decision to give the two girls the limo, the only car the hotel had available at short notice that morning, had been spur of the moment for Santana which meant she now had to find her own way back to the hotel.

It didn’t take long for Santana to realize that she apparently doesn’t have whatever it is that it takes to hail a cab in this city since all the yellow cab’s shot past her as if she wasn’t there.  She even moved along the block in case the cabs didn’t want to pick up outside a police station but it didn’t help.  It was only when a friendly doorman from a nearby building took pity on her that she actually managed to get a ride but it annoyed Santana somewhat that a cab seemed to materialize at the curb as soon as he stuck out his arm.

One thing about Quinn, even when she gets arrested she manages to do it in a classy neighborhood.

Even with the New York traffic it didn’t take that long for Santana to get back to the hotel and when she opens the door to her room she finds Rachel sitting on the sofa, wrapped in one of the hotels fluffy robes that was far too big for her, legs stretched out across the cushions and staring intently at the iPad resting on her lap while apparently ignoring the piles of sandwiches sitting on the coffee table next to her.  Santana gets halfway across the room before the diva looks up.

“Hey, you’re back.” Rachel smiles but her expression quickly turns to concern, “How are Quinn and Brittany?  Are we going to need to get them a lawyer?”

Santana crosses the rest of the space and bends over to give Rachel a quick kiss and a quiet “Hi Baby” before dropping onto the far end of the sofa.  “Nah, they’re fine.  I think the cops were trying to scare them more than anything because they didn’t put up much of a fight.”  She laughs and shakes her head, “The charges were ridiculous given where they were caught.  I spent most of the time proving I could act as Q’s guardian and then I had to wait for the cops to do a load of paperwork.”

“They must be relieved that it’s all over.”  Rachel observes.

“Quinn certainly was” Santana says with a smirk as she helps herself to some lunch, “Eventually.”

“Santana…” Rachel says in a stern tone as she glares at the other girl, “What did you do?”

“I might have led Quinn to think she was in a little bit of trouble.” Santana says with a grin, “Just for a little bit.”

“Santana! That wasn’t nice.  Quinn was probably worried enough already, you shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh come on, you wouldn’t have been able to resist either if you’d seen her in that interview room all freaking out about going to jail.  And anyway, she would have been in a lot more trouble if Britt hadn’t given my date of birth.  Quinn didn’t have a fucking clue.”

Rachel frowns as she considers this piece of information.  “That was a little risky, impressive quick thinking on Brittany’s part, but risky.  Though actually I don’t think it would have been that bad.”  She lowers her feet to the floor and scoots up the sofa so she can show Santana the iPad she was holding, “I did some research while you were gone.  Since Brittany is already sixteen and Quinn is only a year older it would have just been misdemeanour, sexual misconduct, not statutory rape.”

“Sexual misconduct?  Wanky.” Santana says as she examines the iPad, “Still, I doubt Quinn would have appreciated having that on her record, I have to assume that anything with the term ‘Sexual’ in it isn’t going to go down well.  But I guess we should let them know the good news when they get back.”

Rachel hums her agreement around a mouthful of sandwich and once she swallows asks “Back?  Where are they if they’re not in the hotel?”

“Right now, probably still defiling the back of one of the hotel limos.”

“Santana!”

“What?!  Look, as long as they keep the doors locked and the windows closed it’s perfectly safe and if it helps them get the need for a thrill out of their system it might stop them getting into more trouble later in the week.”

“You shouldn’t be encouraging them like that.” Rachel says.

“Oh?” Santana says, raising a questioning eyebrow, “And what about when you ‘encourage’ me?”

“At least we keep it in our room.”

“Most of the time.” Santana says with a smirk.

Rachel rolls her eyes then pushes herself up from the sofa.  “Come on, we just have enough time to shower before we go wave our fathers off at the airport.”

Santana watches with appreciation as Rachel fairly struts across the bedroom, even pregnant the girl can sure work it especially when she drops the robe half way to the en-suite and walks the rest of the way totally naked.  It’s only when Rachel sticks her head back into the bedroom and reminds Santana that they both have to shower that the Latina gets the hint that she’s supposed to join her fiancée and probably not do much in the way of showering.

* * *

Santana was pleasantly surprised by the number of gleeks that turned out to see their parents off.  She had made sure to let everyone know when the plane was leaving, but she had expected it just be her and Rachel to wave them off with maybe Quinn and Brittany showing up too.  Instead every single member of the glee club was waiting in the hotel lobby when the appointed hour arrived. 

Except Mr Shue and Miss Pillsbury, who no one had seen all day, and Santana really didn’t want to even consider what those two were up to.

Quinn and Brittany even emerged from whatever location they had currently been desecrating and managed to only look slightly rumpled rather than totally ravished.  Santana had not so subtly stepped up next to Quinn and sniffed deeply in an attempt to tease the other girl, all the while praying to not actually smell the scent of sex.  The action had earned her some off looks from some of the gleeks, a smack to the shoulder from the blonde and a poke in the ribs from her fiancée but Quinn had turned an impressive shade of red and Santana’s nose was uncontaminated so the Latina decided to call that a win.  For now.

Thankfully the process at the airport didn’t take too long.  There were no misty eyes or shed tears, they were going to be home in a few days themselves after all, and the two limos carrying the glee club returned to the hotel without incident and everyone went their separate ways to enjoy the rest of the day.  Rachel remained in one of the limo’s however while Santana stepped out to speak to the driver and a few moments later they were once again cruising through New York traffic.

“Where are we going?” Rachel asks even as she peers out the car window trying to figure out the answer.

Santana just smiles, “You’ll see soon enough.  It’s no far.”

Of course that isn’t good enough for Rachel and she spends the next few minutes trying to persuade Santana to tell her where they are going.  In the end Santana threatens, not very seriously, to have the driver turn the car around and go back to the hotel which has the desired effect.  Rachel of course huffs, crosses her arms and Santana was sure if she wasn’t sitting she’d have stamped a foot.  Some people would have called that sort of behavior but Santana couldn’t help but find it adorable, even if it did look slightly ridiculous with Rachel’s ever growing baby bump.

It wasn’t until the car turned off of Madison Avenue onto 57th Street then pulled up just before the junction with 5th Avenue that Rachel spoke again.

“That’s Tiffany’s.” she said in awe of the building before them totally missing that Santana had already climbed out of the car.  “You brought me to Tiffany’s?  Seriously?!”

Santana grins and offers Rachel her hand to help her out of the car.  “Well, it’s not exactly a tourist attraction but I seem to remember you mentioning you wanted to see it every time you watched a certain film.” Santana pauses before adding, “Every time.  Without fail.  Repeatedly.”

“Santana!”

And for the second time that afternoon, Santana finds herself being smacked on the shoulder.

The Latina sighs dramatically and turns her face up to the heavens, “I try and do something nice for you and all I end up with is spousal abuse” she jokes.

“Technically I’m not your spouse.” Rachel points out.

Even in the noise of the busy street, Rachel clearly hears the promise in  the “Not Yet” that slips easily from Santana’s lips.  She glances over at the Latina and her heart is warmed at the dreamy faraway look the other girl is currently wearing even as she stands in the middle of the sidewalk oblivious to all the people that have to step around them.  Rachel is tempted to add a “Soon” to Santana’s statement but that might give the other girl the wrong idea.  Or what might be the wrong idea because in that moment Rachel isn’t entirely sure she’s that she wants to wait any more.  Instead she gives Santana’s hand a squeeze and tilts her head towards the store.

“Do you think we can go inside?”

Santana blinks out of whatever fantasy had been playing though her mind and refocuses on Rachel, “Of course baby, did you think I’d bring you here just to look at the outside of the building?”

As if to prove the point Santana steps forward and hauls open the heavy door to the store, holding it while guiding Rachel through with a hand to the small of her back, before passing through herself.  If stepping in to the lobby of the hotel they were staying at for the first time had been eye opening, stepping into tiffany’s was beyond impressive.

Santana could only smile as she followed Rachel around the pristine, tastefully lit rooms as the brunette moved from display to display as first one set of jewels and then another caught her eye.  The Latina is sure that the diva’s eyes twinkle almost as much as the jewels when she looks up towards Santana from examining one particular case.

“They’re beautiful.”

Santana steps up next to Rachel to look at the pieces that currently have Rachel’s attention and nods in agreement as she slips her arm around the other girls waist, “Yeah, but not as beautiful as you.”

The Latina doesn’t see the blush that colors Rachel’s cheeks but she does hear the little wistful sigh the diva gives when she turns her attention back to the case.  Santana knows that Rachel isn’t one for many material things usually, from what Santana’s seen the diva’s jewellery box is woefully understocked and what she does have…  Well, it’s not what you’d call expensive.

And this is Tiffany & Co, the first place that wasn’t a Broadway theater that Rachel had said she had wanted to see when she went to New York.  For some reason her fathers had never brought her when they had visited the city, though Santana thinks that might be due to the probability they’d leave the store broke after showering their little girl with gifts.

“Rach, you’ve got your bank card with you, right?” she asks

“Of course, I wouldn’t leave that lying about in the hotel and we didn’t stop at reception to put it in the safe on the way out.”

“So…  Why don’t you find something you like and buy it for yourself?”  Santana suggests.

“No, I couldn’t” Rachel replies instantly, “Everything is so expensive.”

Santana actually laughs at this, which earns her a scowl from Rachel.

“Rach, it’s not like we can’t afford it.”

“That’s your money San.”

Santana reaches down at takes Rachel’s hand, rubbing her thumb over the two diamonds that  adorn her engagement ring, “This means that it’s our money baby.”  Santana sighs when Rachel still looks dubious, “Look, I know we said that we didn’t want to flaunt the money but sometimes it’s okay to treat yourself and honestly?  You need to start getting used to the fact that you have the money and you can buy stuff if you want to.  I’m not saying go out and buy a mansion or something extravagant like that, but you need to buy, I don’t know, a new car or…”

“What’s wrong with my car?” Rachel demands, “I’ll have you know that car is one of the most reliable and economical cars you can buy…”

Rachel’s rambling is cut off by Santana gently placing a hand over her mouth, “There’s nothing wrong with your car Rach, that was just an example.  I’m just pointing out that if you needed to buy something as expensive as that, we don’t have to worry how we’d pay for it.  And while you might not need something from Tiffany’s, it’s okay to treat yourself every so often.”

Rachel glances around the store wearing a dubious expression, “Seriously?” she asks very quietly.

“Seriously” Santana nods in confirmation, “You don’t think I’d bring you here just to look do you?”

Rachel chews her lip for a moment before apparently deciding something, “Okay, but you have to get something too, it’d make me feel better.”

“You think I’d come to just look?” Santana replies with a smirk.

Rachel pretty much ignores Santana’s comment, “And you have to set a limit, that way I won’t feel guilty about spending too much.”

“A limit… Okay.” Santana lets her eyes wander around the store for a moment, “How about… a hundred?”

Emotions flicker across the diva’s face before being hidden behind a smile, but not fast enough that Santana didn’t catch them.  Surprise, disappointment then determination and Santana was pretty sure if there was anything in this store, no matter how small, that was selling for under a hundred dollars, something the Latina seriously doubts, then Rachel would find it just so she could say she had something from Tiffany’s.  Rachel is already turning away to survey the store but Santana pulls her back.

“Baby, you do realise I meant one hundred thousand, right?” She says with a grin, “And so it can be a surprised, you had that way” the Latina points to one side of the store, “and I’ll head the other way and we can meet up back here when we’re done.  Okay?”

Santana slips her arm from around the diva and wanders off towards her side of the store.  When she glances back in Rachel’s direction, she’s still standing where Santana left her, gazing in the direction the Latina had gone with her mouth literally hanging open.  Santana gives her a little wave and a smile and that seems to bring Rachel back to reality, she snaps her mouth closed, swallows so dramatically that Santana could easily see her doing to from where she was standing and starts to look around the store again.

Santana isn’t really looking for anything in particular.  Unlike Rachel, her jewellery collection is reasonably large and while it’s not Tiffany’s expensive, having been received as gifts or bought with her allowance over the years, it is pretty nice stuff.  Rachel would be having trouble picking one thing she wanted whereas Santana would be having trouble finding something she that stood out from what she already had.

The only reason she went into the small room off to one side of the store was because the security guard standing at the archway that led to it was looking at her like she didn’t belong there and that pissed her off.  He didn’t try to stop her however but Santana is pretty sure he’s watching her as she walks over to the nearest case and suddenly the reason for his attention is quite obvious.  She had been sort of joking when she’d said a hundred thousand to Rachel, mainly because she didn’t realise there would be anything in the store quite that expensive, yet this little room was filled with pieces that had price tags that would happily pay for the mystery SUV that was still sitting in the garage back home.

And of course, it’s in this room that she finds the piece she didn’t know she was looking for.  A white gold pendant in the shape of a beamed double quarter note is suspended from a fine chain made of the same material and both are encrusted with small but perfectly cut diamonds.  The effect could have been gaudy or ostentatious if executed badly, but whoever had made this particular piece knew what they were doing and Santana could already see Rachel wearing it.

“It’s a beautiful piece don’t you think?” An assistant Santana hadn’t even noticed said.

“Yeah.” Is all Santana could manage.

“It’s hand made of course, everything in this area is, and it’s unique.  There isn’t and won’t ever be another piece like it.”

“Can I see it?” Santana asks, “I mean, out of the case?”

“Of course” the assistant nods.

Santana isn’t sure if the assistant really believes she could afford to buy the necklace of if she’s just humoring the Latina, but it doesn’t matter since the end result is the same.  It takes a moment to turn off the cases alarm and find the right key but when the assistant is done, the tray holding the necklace is sitting on top of the case right in front of Santana.  The security guard, Santana can’t help but notice, is a lot closer too.

“There are also these earrings that match the necklace as well.” The assistant adds placing a smaller tray next to the first.

While the necklace is a barred double note, each earring is a single eighth note made from the same white gold and encrusted with the same perfectly cut diamonds.  They match the necklace perfectly and Santana can easily see Rachel wearing them.

She nods decisively, “I’ll take them.”

“May I ask how you will be paying?”

Santana digs in her purse for a moment before producing her own little black bank card which is more or less identical to the one she gave Rachel.  The assistant’s eyes widen in surprise ever so slightly.  Many people would just think the card Santana hands over is a regular debit card, and functionality wise they wouldn’t be wrong, but working for Tiffany’s means the assistant has learned to recognize certain types of card and this is one of them.  This isn’t the type of card a bank gives out to just anyone, it isn’t even the type of card a bank gives to someone living off Daddy’s fortune, this is the type of card which means your wealthy in your own right.  It’s not the type of card the assistant has ever been presented with by someone so young.

“I’ll have to verify that.” She says carefully, “Do you have some photo identification?”

Santana nods, “Of course.”  She extracts her driving license from her purse and passes that over too.

“I’ll be right back.” The assistant says before walking briskly towards a door marked “Staff Only.”

Santana is left with the necklace and earrings sitting before her on the display case and with the security guard hovering over them.  He’s wearing a slightly apologetic expression now because, while he didn’t recognize the card himself, if the assistant went to verify it, there must be a good chance that the young girl standing in front of him must be able to actually afford the items she’s looking at.  It only takes a few minutes before the assistant is returning with a sheaf of paperwork.

“That’s perfect Miss Lopez, if you would sign here please.” 

The assistant presents Santana with her bank card, ID and a payment authorization slip which she examines and then signs.

“Thank you. Would you like to take them now or would you prefer to have them delivered?”

The assistant had already produced one of Tiffany’s signature jewellery boxes from a storage space below the display case and was transferring the necklace and earrings into it.  Santana eyes the box and decides it would fit into her purse.

“I’ll take them now.”

The assistant closes the box and hands it and the paperwork over to Santana.  The Latina had just got everything seated properly in her purse when she hears a voice that can only be Rachel’s filter in from the direction of the rest of the store, and Rachel doesn’t sound happy.  She crosses the room she’s in, locates Rachel and is at her side within seconds.

“What the fuck is going on?” the Latina demands.

“This salesman” Rachel almost spits the word, “first refuses to accept my bank card because the name on it doesn’t match my ID, then refused to return the card to me and finally threatened to call the police and have me thrown in jail.”

Santana is impressed, not only for the spite Rachel showed when she used the word “salesman” but the flinch it generated in the person in question.  She’s just about to demand to know what the hell he was thinking when another voice cuts in.

“You have to understand, with high price items such as these we have to be very careful.  There is a lot of credit card fraud these days.”

The newcomer is an older member of staff and has Manager written all over her.  Santana notes that the salesman Rachel was talking to relaxes a little at her arrival so she turns her fill Head Bitch In Charge stare at him.

“Did you even attempt to verify the card?” she asks in a faux reasonable tone.

“The name on her ID doesn’t match.” he tries rather weakly.

“And there is no reason you can think of that a woman would change her surname?”

Santana is honestly a little impressed at how pale the man turns.  “I’ll go verify…” he starts.

“No you won’t.  I don’t know if you work on commission here, but you are not getting this sale.” Santana snaps and turns her gaze onto the manager, “Find someone else.”

While the manager finds another assistant to help Rachel, the diva whispers something in Santana’s ear.

“Rachel needs to use the bathroom” Santana says to the manager once the new assistant has left to check the card, “I assume you have one she can use.”

“Of course.”

When Rachel is safely dispatching in the direction of a toilet, guided by yet another member of staff, the manager turns back to Santana.  “I’m sure you can appreciate that we have to be careful these days…”

Santana cuts her off, “You know, this was the one place that Rachel wanted to visit when she came to New York, if you don’t count every stage on Broadway of course, and all because of that damn movie.  She was excited to be here and when I persuaded her that she could actually buy something…”  Santana smiles and shakes her head, then her expression turns stony, “And your asshole of a salesman ruined it for her.  Not only did he not do his job properly, he threatened to have my pregnant fiancée thrown in jail!”

“I’m sorry…”

“No!  It’s not good enough.  Do you know she’s already collapsed once during this pregnancy?  Do you know she’s carrying twins?  That tiny little body of hers is already working flat out to keep the babies healthy and she doesn’t need the stress of being threatened with jail from an asshole like that!”

“If there’s anything we can do…”

Santana shakes her head, “You can’t make her forget this” she says, than adds “but maybe we can give her a nice memory to take home with her.   This is what you’re going to do…”

By the time Rachel emerges from the bathroom a small table and two chairs have been brought out to the sales floor.  An assistant had been dispatched to a nearby store and had returned with tea, little sandwiches and some cupcakes which had been laid out on a white tablecloth and some impressive looking silverware.  Also on the table was the Tiffany’s box that contained whatever Rachel had decided to buy, Santana had decided not to look at it yet.

“What’s all this?” the diva asks.

“Well, it’s a little late for breakfast, but I thought we could have afternoon tea at Tiffany’s” Santana suggests.

* * *

After the late nights and excitement of the last few days, Santana and Rachel mutually decided to have a quiet night in their hotel room.  Just the two of them, curled up on the sofa, watching a movie and enjoying each others company.  They still had a good few days to enjoy New York and after everything that’s happened anyway, Rachel is a little tired.

They had just settled down for the first movie of the night, and given the way Rachel was yawning Santana figured it was probably going to be the last, when someone banged on their hotel room door.  Santana untangles herself from Rachel, pushes herself up off the sofa and makes her way across the room to peer out the spy hole in the door.  A moment later she pulls open the door and scowls at a surprised looking Puck.

“What do you want Puckerman?” she demands.

“Aren’t you ready?  I thought Quinn told you…” Puck says glancing round.

Santana surveys the scene before her, pretty much all the glee club are standing in the corridor and all of them are dressed up in what could laughably be called their best.  Quinn is pointedly not looking at her.

“No, she didn’t tell me.  Where are you going?”

“This bar round the corner that Finn and I found earlier today.  They don’t seem too picky about who they let in.” Puck explains.

“Oh and that makes it a nice safe place for a bunch of underage drinkers, right?  But sadly Rachel and I decided to have a quiet night in tonight” Santana explains, her eyes not moving from a certain blonde, “Do you think it’s wise going out drinking when you’re all underage?”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Puck says with a shrug.  Some of the rest of the gleeks add “Yeah” and “Live a little.”

“You get arrested, thrown in jail and Mr Shue gets called to try and bail your asses out.”  Santana suggests.

“Whatever.” Puck shrugs, “If you’re not coming, we’re out of here.”

The gleeks turn to leave but Santana calls Quinn back, waiting until the others are out of earshot and only the blonde and Brittany are still standing in the corridor.

“Do you really think this is wise Q?  Your both well underage and you’ve been in trouble with the cops already today.  Do you know how much trouble you’re going to be in if you get caught?”

“So what, you’re saying I can’t go?” Quinn demands.

“I’m saying you shouldn’t go and I’m saying that it’s really not a smart thing to do.”

“I’m just going to have a few drinks and have some fun with my friends.  We’ll be back at the hotel before you know it and we’ll be fine.”

“Q…”

“You’re not my Mom Santana! You can’t tell me what to do!”

“No, I’m not your Mom, I’m your guardian and technically I can tell you what to do!”

“Yeah?  And how are you going to make me stay?”

“Hotel Security.”

That seems to get through to Quinn as she just gapes at Santana in response.

“But I’m not going to tell you not to go and I’m not going to call hotel security because I promised when I became your guardian for this trip that I wouldn’t do stuff like that.  But I will tell you that I think your being stupid, whatever the game is your playing its very dangerous and you’re going to get yourself in trouble with the police or worse.  So go if you want to, but when the shit hits the fan, don’t call me.”

“Fine.” Quinn huffs, turns on her heel and stomps towards the elevators.  Santana watches her go for a moment then turns to Brittany.

“Britt…”

The blonde holds up her hand, “I’m only going to keep an eye on her, I’m not going to be drinking anything.”

“What’s gotten into her Britt?  This isn’t like her at all.”

Brittany shrugs, “She got a call after we got back from seeing off our parents.  I don’t know who from or what it was about, she took her phone into the bathroom, but she’s been in a bad mood ever since.  Then Puck came round with this club idea and she jumped at it.  She said she was going to tell you about it, but I guess she didn’t.”

Quinn’s voice floats down the corridor “Britt! Are you coming?”

Santana sighs, “Okay Britt, go take care of her and we’ll try and get to the bottom of this later, assuming she doesn’t end up in a cell or something.  Call me if you even get a whiff of trouble, okay?” 

Britt nods and turns to head towards Quinn.

“And Britt, let me know when you get back to the hotel, okay?” Santana adds.

 


	37. Chapter 37

It was still dark in Quinn's room the next day when she finally woke up, though that was due more to the heavy curtains covering the hotel windows rather than an early hour. She knew she was alone in the bed, whenever Brittany was with her they were always in contact somehow, but she could hear the faint noise of cartoons coming from one corner of the room. Britt had obviously gotten restless and decided to entertain herself by watching some television and Quinn was grateful that her girlfriend had thought to turn down the sound and turn the television away from the bed.

She risked cracking open one eye but the thumping in her head was just made that much worse by what little light made it past the curtains and that flickered from the TV screen. She groaned, which really didn't help, and slammed her eye shut again, covering both of them with one arm to block out any photon that might try to find its way into her eyes.

"There are painkillers and a glass of water on the bedside table."

The first few words came out far too loud, the speaker obviously not expecting her voice to be so loud in the quiet room, but she controls the volume quickly and the rest of the sentence was spoken in little more than a whisper. Quinn's hand was already searching for the pills before the surprise at the owner of the voice fully registered. She hadn't expected Santana to be waiting in her room for her to wake up, but maybe the Latina was keeping Britt company. Quinn wonders for a moment where Rachel is but then her hand find the pills and she pops them into her mouth, raising her head a little to wash them down with what she assumes is the glass of water. She still hadn't opened her eyes again.

"Britt?" she croaks.

"She's in my room with Rach, hopefully sleeping." Santana says.

After a moment taxing thought, Quinn asks "Why?"

"Because she dragged you back here with my help at 2am in the morning, put your drunken ass to bed and then spent the rest of the night awake to make sure you didn't choke on your own vomit." Santana said in a slightly harsh tone.

Quinn groans, Santana's rising tone is causing a renewed thumping in her head and the painkillers hadn't had enough time yet to take effect. But Santana doesn't seem to feel the need to add anything else at this point and Quinn is content to bury her head in the hotel's soft pillows and wait for the painkillers to do their thing.

She's just wondering when Santana started watching children's cartoons, maybe the Latina was preparing herself for motherhood, when a stray thought makes its way through her mind and causes her to sit bolt upright in the bed and grope on the bedside table for her phone, ignoring the spinning and thumping in her head to look round frantically when the device did not fall immediately to hand.

"Where's my phone?" she demands.

"Wherever you left it I guess." Santana says in a bored tone.

"My purse…"

It was the last place Quinn could remember putting her phone and she doubted Britt would have taken it out to use it since she had her own. But in her still somewhat inebriated and light sensitive state, she can't even see that in the darkness of the room. Santana seems to know where it is however as a few moments later the reassuring weight of her purse lands on her lap. She argues with the zip for a moment before it yields to her fingers and she finally gets it open revealing her phone nestled at the top of the bag.

One new voice mail.

It takes three attempts to unlock the phone but then she's listening to the waiting message. It's long and detailed and she's not sure she understood half of it, but she got the general idea of what the voice on the recording was saying and the wave or relief she felt when it was over had her falling back onto the bed, the phone and purse suddenly forgotten.

"What's going on Q?"

Quinn isn't sure why but the soft, tentative question suddenly makes her want the comforting feeling of her girlfriends arms around her. She curls up on the bed, arms wrapping around herself and whimpers quietly. Santana's eyebrows make it up past her hairline, she's seen Quinn in many states from totally hammered to pissed off and everything in between, but she's never seen her sounding so small and scared. The Latina isn't even sure Quinn realizes she's saying Britt's name over and over again but it has her reaching for her own mobile phone and sending a message which results in the room door opening quietly a few minutes later.

Britt steps into the room and moves towards the bed without a moment's hesitation. She drops her dressing gown, ignoring the fact that she's only wearing panties underneath, and climbs under the covers to pull Quinn against her. The blonde's whimpers to develop into full blown sobs as she buries her face in her girlfriends neck.

Rachel steps into the room a moment after Brittany and throws Santana a questioning look as she closes and re-locks the door. Santana shrugs and holds out her arms so the diva can climb into her lap and snuggle against her while they wait for Quinn to regain her composure. It took some time but with Britt's gentle comforting while the other blonde clung on to her, Quinn's sobs eventually quieten to some sniffing and an occasional hiccup. Santana takes this as her cue and slips out from under Rachel, moving to sit near the foot of Quinn's side of the bed. She reaches out to squeeze a lump in the sheets that is one of Quinn's ankles in a way she hopes in reassuring to the other girl.

"What's going on Q?" she asks quietly again.

This produces a fresh bout of sobs from the blonde, though not as heart-breaking as before, and she buries her face in the crook of Brittany's neck. The dancer rocks her gently, rubbing her back with one hand as she coos to her quietly, and just when Santana had all but given up an answer, she finally gets one.

"He almost killed her!" Quinn blurts suddenly as if it took an immense effort to get the words out. After a hiccup she adds one more word, "Russel."

Rachel's gasp would have been comical overkill under other circumstances but Santana barely hears it over the sound of rushing blood in her ears.

"You're Mom?" she asks hardly even recognizing her own voice.

Quinn nods after a moment, her face still buried in her girlfriend's neck, and though no one asks, she tells them what she knows, interrupted only by various sobs, sniffs and hiccups.

"He beat her. Left her in the living room lying in a pool of her own blood."

An image of the scene came unbidden to Santana's mind and causes her to grimace. She's been in that living room, seen the pristine light fawn carpet that Quinn's Mom was left bleeding out on.

"A friend found her when she didn't show up for…" Quinn pauses, trying to remember what her mother was late for but she's not entirely sure she registered that part of the conversation, "… something."

"The phone call yesterday?"

"The police letting me know what happened," Quinn answers, "And this morning was an update from the doctor that's looking after her."

"How is she?" Rachel finally manages to ask after a moments total silence in the room.

"Alive," Quinn croaks, "just. She's in intensive care. Broken bones, broken ribs, lacerations. Some sort of head injury. She's in a coma. I don't remember all of the details."

"Shit." Just cursing isn't enough; Santana can feel her whole body vibrating with the need to do something.

"I'll call the airlines," Rachel says, "We might have to take an indirect route, but I'll get us back to Lima today…"

Rachel was already reaching for her mobile phone as she spoke, but was interrupted by a sudden outburst from Quinn.

"No!" She was suddenly sitting straight up in the bed, a hand outstretched towards Rachel as if physically trying to stop her. She only collapses back onto the bed when she's sure Rachel has stopped dialing, "They said I should stay here… At least until we were scheduled to go back, give them a chance to find him."

It was all too much for Santana. Her blood had started to boil from the moment Quinn had mentioned Russel's name and each revelation after had just made her more and more angry. She had removed her hand from Quinn's ankle when she had mentioned ICU for fear that she might just inadvertently squeeze it too hard in her anger and cause the girl an injury. Her hands were now bunched tight into fists, her nails digging in to her own palms, but it didn't help. She needed an outlet before she did something she'd regret, and since Russel wasn't around to pound into dust, she needed to find something else.

Without warning Santana launches herself from the bed, stalks across the room to wrench open the door, steps outside and slams the door behind her.

* * *

Rachel had instinctively understood that Santana needed some time to herself, she had noticed her fiancé tensing up more and more as Quinn had spoken and she was a little thankful that there was no chance that a certain asshole was in the vicinity otherwise she was sure that Santana would be on her way to hunt him down.

So she gave Santana some time before she went looking for her but she did slip out of Quinn and Brittany's room soon after the Latina had left since it appeared that the Brittany had chosen a rather intimate way to console her girlfriend and Quinn didn't seem to be objecting. Rachel didn't expect Santana to be in their room when she stepped through the door and so was not disappointed to find that was the case. But it didn't look like anything had been touched since she had last left the room, so Rachel assumes Santana hadn't even stopped by on her way to wherever she went.

She decides to give Santana an hour which should be plenty of time to work out whatever frustration she was feeling and keeps herself busy by reading the reports on the local Lima newspaper websites. The reports weren't very detailed, Rachel probably knew more about the attack from what Quinn had told her, but there was no mention of anyone being taken into custody which probably meant that Russel was still managing to avoid the police.

When the hour is up, Rachel abuses her relationship with Santana to have the hotel staff track the Latina down and in less than ten minutes from her first call to the front desk, she's walking into the gym complex on one of the hotels lower floors. She's been told Santana is in one of the weight rooms and has been, as far as Rachel can tell, since she left Quinn and Brittany's room, but before she can make it to the room, she's approached by a rather bubbly member of staff.

"Hi, I'm Amy. Are you here for a prenatal yoga session?"

"Prenatal Yoga?" Rachel asks, a little surprised by the offer, "Is that even safe?"

"Sure," the bubbly redhead says, "it's a great way to relax and reduce physical and emotional stress. It's beneficial for both mummy and baby. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

The way the young woman is eying Rachel's baby bump is a giveaway that she's one of those hands-on people that is probably only restraining herself because of her job at the hotel.

"It's twins," Rachel informs her, "And no, we don't know what they are yet."

"Twins!" the girl actually bounces on her toes a little reminding Rachel of Brittany, "You must be so happy!"

Rachel can't help but laugh at the girls enthusiasm, especially when her hand starts to gravitate towards her baby bump apparently of its own accord only to be snatched back before it makes contact. The diva decides to have mercy on the girl that seems to be so excited about someone else's pregnancy.

"It's okay, you can feel them if you like but they aren't moving around much or kicking right now."

Almost before she'd finished the sentence, the instructor's hands are pressed gently onto her stomach and Rachel's pretty sure the other girl is actually holding her breath. She almost wants one of the babies to kick just to make this girl happy, but they don't oblige and after a moment the instructor pulls back looking disappointed. But she shakes off the disappointment within moments and is back to her, apparently normal, bouncy, enthusiastic self.

"So can I interest you in a prenatal yoga session?"

"I really don't think that's something…" Rachel begins but immediately feels like she's kicking a puppy with the way the instructors face falls.

"It's just I don't get to work with mothers to be much here" she pouts as her eyes drop to Rachel's baby bump again.

The pout is almost as bad as Brittany's and while Rachel tells herself she just wants to get away from this girl to seek out Santana, she kind of wants to cheer her up too. She probably makes a fortune for the gym with that pout. Then Rachel has an idea.

"I assume I can bring some friends along, even if they aren't pregnant?"

"Sure" the girl is instantly back to sickly bubbly, "It's prenatal mostly because we limit the positions that we do so that expecting mommies can handle them comfortably, but…"

Rachel cuts off what appears to be the start of a detailed explanation and makes an appointment for a session for four at three pm that afternoon. They don't have anything planned as far as Rachel was aware and some yoga might help Quinn and everyone else relax a little, even if the diva isn't sure if either of the blondes will actually turn up. She figures if she can persuade Brittany to go, Quinn will tag along with her girlfriend. Perhaps she just won't mention that it is prenatal yoga.

Once Rachel manages to disengage herself from the instructor she wanders through the rest of the complex looking for her fiancé. The gym seems to be organized around numerous smaller rooms each containing a number of different types of machine rather than large rooms with ranks of identical machines like Rachel has seen in commercial gyms. She supposes it makes some sort of sense, the kind of people who stayed at this hotel would probably prefer privacy when exercising, but it does make finding someone a little tricky.

The diva passes through a cluster of what looks like dance studios and finally locates the weight rooms. Santana is in the second room she checks, but she's not using one of the benches or even lifting weights. A punch bag swings back and forward from the ceiling and every time its arc reaches the point closest to Santana, the Latina punches it with enough force to make Rachel wince. The cheerleader grunts every time a punch makes contact and only pauses to wipe away the sheen of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

Rachel slips into the otherwise empty room and closes the door behind her just as Santana unleashes a flurry of punches that she accompanies with a string of curses then she pauses, wrapped hands steadying the bag while she rests her forehead against it for a moment, and Rachel ceases the opportunity.

"Whatever did that punching bag do to deserve that treatment?" She asks in an amused tone.

Santana doesn't jump but she does chuckle, "Meet Russel" she says, pulling back and giving the bag one last bone crushing punch that sets it swinging a little before crossing to the bench Rachel had sat down on and joining her, "Hey."

"Hey. You okay?" Rachel asks.

"No."

Rachel says nothing.

"He's still hurting her Rach." Santana says after a moment, "He made her life hell before he ran off with that tattooed freak, disowned her, hit her, chased her out of her own home and despite everything we've don't to help her, he's still managing to hurt my best friend! And the worst part? You want to know what the absolute worst part of it all is? There's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it!"

Santana had started to yank at the tape that someone had wrapped around her hands as she spoke and Rachel reached out to stop her, slowly taking over the task of removing the tape.

"San, you're doing so much for her already. You've given her a new home, a new family, the unconditional love she's never known from her birth family. Let the police deal with Russel and you do what you've always done for her, be there for her even when she thinks she doesn't need anyone else."

"I just… I want to hurt him Rach; I want to hurt him like he's hurt her."

"I know" Rachel says, "But if you go out hunting for Russel your either going to end up in trouble with the police or worse, in hospital like Quinn's Mom. Quinn needs you right now. So do I and our children." She pulls Santana's hands into her lap, "The best thing you can do to hurt him right now is exactly what you have been doing ever since Quinn moved in with us."

Santana leans over to Rachel and pulls her into a hug, "How do you always know exactly the right thing to say?"

Rachel smiles and pats the Latina's arm before standing and holding her and out, "Come on, let's go get some lunch before our prenatal yoga session."

"Sure" Santana agrees automatically, "Wait, what?"

* * *

Santana grit her teeth against the groan that wanted to escape and cursed herself again for letting Rachel talk her into this. Of course the diva had pulled the Quinn card which the Latina had no viable defense for, if Santana and Brittany went to the yoga class then Quinn would go too and it would distract her from the current situation. But it was a prenatal class anyway, so it couldn't be that bad, right?

Right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong. Rachel might be getting the prenatal class but the rest of them are getting tortured like Amy was the bastard child of Sue Sylvester and Pol Pot and Santana is starting to wonder just when this session will end. She glances at one of the mirrors that line the walls of the small room to check out how the others are doing. Rachel's fine of course and Britt seems to be having the time of her life, she's already talking about looking for classes when they get back to Lima. Quinn though is having as many problems as the Latina. She's covered in a sheen of sweat and while Santana is watching, her arms tremble badly enough that it would have gotten her sent to the bottom of the pyramid if Sue had seen it.

Thankfully Amy chooses that moment to take pity on them.

"Okay everyone, relax."

Santana and Quinn pretty much immediately collapse onto their mats and reach for the bottles of water sitting nearby. Brittany is actually bouncing about the room like a Duracell Bunny with fresh batteries and not for the first time Santana wonders where she gets all her energy from.

"I have another class to lead," Amy informs them, "But you have the room for another half hour. Remember to warm down before you go!" This last was called back to them over her shoulder as the instructor was already half way out of the door.

Santana swallows a couple of mouthfuls of water then flops onto her back and closes her eyes. She seriously considers just pouring the rest of the contents of the bottle over her head where she lay, but she didn't think she had another bottle to hand and an impromptu shower would just leave her thirsty whenever she actually managed to push herself back up to sitting.

"We're going to hit the showers." Brittany declares while pulling Quinn to her feet, "We'll see you upstairs later."

Santana is oblivious as Rachel accompanies the other girls to the door, closes and locks it and pulls the blind down over the small window. She becomes aware of Rachel's return when the diva dumps something on her face.

"Hey!" Santana groans half-heartedly.

She flails an arm for a while until whatever landed on her is pushed clear of her face, but the frown she was wearing doesn't survive the giggle this action elicits from Rachel. She's about to ask what that was in aid of but as she opens her mouth, Rachel's hand lands somewhere really private and all that comes out is a surprised squeak. Santana had decided not to wear her compression shorts for the yoga session, not to be wearing anything too constricting when she was going to be bending in God knows which direction, so instead she had chosen boxers and a pair of sweats and hoped that the instructor would not notice that bulge that shouldn't be there or at least not mention it.

But that meant there was nothing restricting her when Rachel's hand landed square on her penis and started massaging. A few moments ago she had been so exhausted that all she could think about was a nap but now her body was already reacting to her fiancé's expert touch and while she was still exhausted, sleep was suddenly the furthest thing from her mind.

"What you doing Rach?" she asks cautiously.

All she gets in response is a giggle and a squeeze that forces a moan of pleasure from her throat. They might not be the most experienced people when it came to sex, but Rachel was a fast and enthusiastic learner and sometimes Santana hated just how easy it was for the diva to turn her on. Sometimes it was like she had a damn switch and right now was one of those times, especially when Rachel leans forward or her knees and starts nibbling on Santana's neck.

"Rach… We can't do this here." Santana objects.

"Yes we can."

"No we can't." Santana forces past another groan as Rachel decides to pick that moment to slide her hand under the Latina's sweat pants, "Anyone could come in."

"The door is locked, the blinds are shut and Amy said we have the room for" Rachel pauses and looks up at the clock on one wall, "another twenty five minutes."

But Rachel isn't worried about Santana stopping her since, despite the verbal objections, the Latina hasn't raised a finger to stop her and still doesn't even as the diva tugs the sweat pants and boxers off of the other girls hips and half way down her thighs to exposes her erect cock to the room. She tilts her head to one side and hums as she appreciates Santana's length, her fingers ghosting over the Latina's hardness from base to tip and eliciting another moan from the Latina.

Suddenly Rachel's hand is firm around the base of Santana's shaft as, with no warning, she sucks the tip into her mouth. The Latina's hips jerk up of their own accord, an action the diva is very accustomed to and that she always found amusing, and she moans again as the diva's mouth slowly descends. Santana's not entirely sure how long Rachel continues her ministrations, her mind always seems to turn off when the diva brings her talented tongue to bear, but her head has rolled to one side and, after a few moments of confused disbelief, she realizes she's actually watching the reflection of Rachel sucking her cock in one of the large mirrors mounted around the room. The sight is intoxicating and Santana decides that she has to seriously reconsider Rachel's suggestion to make a video for their own personal use.

And then Rachel has released her and Santana learns that the diva hasn't bothered with panties under her yoga pants. She takes the hint to kick off her own sweat pants and boxers and she's only just gotten them clear when Rachel is pushing her flat on her back again and is kneeling astride her body. The diva reaches down between her thighs to grab Santana's cock before she impales herself on its length, slowly lowering herself until the Latina is completely inside her and she's more or less sitting on the Santana's hips.

She takes a moment to glance at the clock, "We have fifteen minutes."

"Not gonna need it." Santana grunts from below her.

Rachel giggles and leans forward slightly, placing her hands on Santana's stomach as she starts to ride the other girl. Santana's hands find the diva's thighs, stroking and scratching at the bare flesh before reaching to grab handfuls of ass as powerful dancers muscles propel Rachel up and down to establish a pleasing rhythm. They are both groaning and panting but it doesn't take long before Santana realizes her fiancé is quickly tiring, the muscles under her fingers trembling with exertion rather than pleasure.

"Wait…" she gasps.

Rachel complies, lowering herself one last time onto Santana before allowing herself to relax. Santana bends her legs, bringing her thighs up to meet Rachel's back then she slowly sits up, in the process lowering the diva until she's laying on the mat with her legs over the Latina's now splayed thighs. Santana pulls her legs around behind her and leans forward, supporting herself on hands planted securely on either side of Rachel, leaving plenty of space for the baby bump but still allowing the Latina to thrust into the diva.

It takes a few moments to get into her stride and then Rachel's legs loop around her hips and then the room is filled with grunts and groans of pleasure and wet slapping noises. Rachel's fingers claw Santana's back and tangle in her hair, her hips rising to meet Santana's downward thrusts and Santana adjusts her weight to allow her to slip her hand between their bodies to stroke the diva's little nub.

This time it's as if Santana has found Rachel's on switch, her back arches almost immediately and Santana can feel her walls fluttering around her cock. She thrusts again, her soaked fingers pressing against Rachel's clit and the diva lets go, her pussy clamping around the Latina's cock and legs tightening around Santana's hips to hold her in place while her body quakes. Santana's own shuddering release follows very quickly after and she has to quickly pull her hand from between their bodies so she doesn't collapse on top of the pregnant girl even as she pumps her seed into her.

They pull apart a few moments later, Santana rolling to lay on her back next to Rachel and just as she's glancing at the clock on the wall to check the time, a member of staff bangs on the door to tell them another group is waiting to make use of the room.


	38. Chapter 38

The day after the yoga session was their last full day in New York and a slightly dejected looking Mr Shue tried to persuade everyone to spend the day together as a team building exercise, a suggestion that left Miss Pillsbury looking rather uncomfortable as she attempted to subtly put space between herself and the Glee teacher.  Thankfully no one else thought this was a good idea so Santana, Rachel, Brittany and Quinn spent most of the day together taking in the sights of the city, wandering in central park and making plans for a year in the future when they would all return. 

They only went their separate ways when Quinn discovered that Santana wasn’t going to use the tickets to that evenings performance of Chicago she had managed to acquire as a special surprise for Rachel.  She had only bought two tickets for the sold out show and didn’t want to leave Quinn and Brittany alone for the night after everything that had happened, but the blondes finally managed to persuade the other two girls that they also had plans for the evening. 

Santana wasn’t exactly happy to discover the plans were to head out to a local dance club, remembering the state Quinn had been in only a couple of nights before, but Brittany persuaded her it was going to be okay by producing a flyer for the evening, a special underage dance contest where no alcohol would be served and where there would be plenty of security.

The flight back was uneventful.  The four chose the same seats as they had on the flight to New York but Rachel ended up pouting a little when Quinn and Brittany disappeared into the soundproofed bedroom at the back of the jet.  Santana managed to cheer her up with sweet lady kisses, even if the diva pushed Santana’s hand away when it tried to venture up her skirt.  Rachel was adamant that she was not doing there where anyone could wander to the back of the jet and see them.

The bus from the airport took them back to the school where the four girls climbed into Santana’s car and they all headed directly to the hospital.  Quinn had been very quiet from the moment the jet had landed, not letting go of Brittany’s hand for the whole of the car ride but of all the miles she had traveled that day it is the walk from the hospital reception that seemed to take the longest.  When the doors for the ICU came into view, Quinn instinctively reached out with her free hand and grabs Santana’s.  The Latina just stepped a little closer and squeezed back reassuringly.

A helpful nurse showed them to Judy’s room but it wouldn’t have been hard to find without her given the presence of a uniformed police officer guarding the door.  He let them past with just a nod and then the four girls were looking at the small looking form of Quinn’s mother laying, still unconscious, on the bed.  The few areas of skin that weren’t covered by plaster casts, bandages or hospital gown were black and blue.  Monitoring cables and IV tubes sprouted from various parts of her body leading to a number of machines installed around the head of the bed.  But she was breathing on her own, the beeping of the heart monitor strong and steady in the otherwise silent room and the doctor that came to see them assured Quinn that there was a high probability that her mother would be okay.  Eventually.

When they eventually went home they were met by two detectives and a group of uniformed police that took Santana’s keys then searched the house.  It was only a precaution, one of the detectives assured them, since there was no sign of a break in, but given the severity of Judy’s injuries they weren’t in the mood to take any chances.  Thankfully no one was found but over the next few days Santana had the entire security system upgraded. 

Every window and door was wired, every downstairs room and hallway was covered by passive infra-red sensors and panic buttons were installed in strategic locations throughout the house.  Santana had security cameras installed that would allow anyone inside to check who was knocking before going anywhere near the door.  Quinn thought this was all a little excessive but Rachel knew this was just Santana showing her maternal instinct and doing whatever was necessary to protect the little family she had built for herself.

They fell into a routine of for the final two weeks of school.  Classes, hospital visits, take out dinner, hours of studying and then watching a movie until they dragged themselves up the stairs to collapse into bed.  Time passed with surprising speed and very little drama given the number of finals that the four girls had and Santana even agreed to allow Puck to host a Glee club party at their house to celebrate the start of the summer holidays.

The ‘Only Glee Club members and their plus one’s’ rule was enforced, much to Puck’s disappointment, by a number of bouncers that Santana had hired for the event.

And then it was the summer holidays.

* * *

Quinn cracks open an eye only when her questing hand fails to locate the bottle of water that is usually sitting on her bedside table.  It isn’t there and she realizes with a groan that she forgot to pick one up when she headed up to bed the previous night.  She cranes her neck to look over the body of the blonde still fast asleep next to her and finds that nightstand as bereft of water as her own.

 She licks her lips, or tries to, but her mouth is as dry as sandpaper and a visit to the kitchen is pretty much inevitable.  She throws back the covers, carefully prises Britt’s arm from around her waist and heads to the door.

“Where are you going?” Britt croaks.

She looks half asleep, her eyes lidded as she looks up at Quinn from the bed.

“Just going to get some water.  Want some?”

Britt nods than squeezes her eyes shut as Quinn opens the bedroom door, allowing light to flood in from the hallway.  She’s not surprised when she finds Rachel in the kitchen, staring into the refrigerator with a perplex expression.

“Hey.”

Rachel jumps, gasping a little and pressing a hand to her chest in a rather over dramatic fashion and releases a shaky breath when she turns to see Quinn standing just inside the kitchen door.

“Oh Quinn, you surprised me.  What are you doing up at this hour?”

“Sorry” Quinn apologizes, she really didn’t intend to surprise the brunette and it was probably a bad idea since a certain Latina would kill her if anything bad happened, “I just came down for some water for Britt and me.  Are you raiding the fridge again?”

“Cravings.” Rachel explains with a pout as she pulls two bottles out of the refrigerator and passes them to the blonde, “But we’re out of what I want and I can’t find anything else to satisfy me.”

“Time to wake up Santana?” Quinn asks with a smirk.

Rachel shakes her head and ignores the innuendo, “I’ve woken her twice this week already, she’d go if I asked but she needs a decent night’s sleep.”

“You think you’re going to get much sleep when the twins are borne?”  Quinn teases.

Rachel shrugs, “Probably not.  Are you worried about your sleep being interrupted?  I’m sure we could get your room soundproofed or something, or maybe…”

“No Rach, I’m not worried.  It’s going to happen but after everything you and Santana have done for me, I’m not about to hide out in some soundproofed room and leave the pair of you to it.  Now you make up a shopping list and I’ll go down to the store, just let me go grab some clothes.”

“Quinn, you don’t need to…” Rachel begins

“I’m already awake, it’s fine.” Quinn calls back and then it’s pointless arguing since the blonde is already half way up the stairs.

* * *

The drive to the local store and back should only have taken five minutes each way, add in another five for getting everything on the list and paying, and Quinn should have been back after fifteen minutes, twenty at the most.  It was now forty minutes since Quinn had left and Rachel was beyond worried.  Quinn’s contact details are still displayed on the screen of her phone and the call rings almost immediately when she presses the call button.  And rings.  And rings.  And rings.  When the call is diverted to voice mail it is the second time in the same number of minutes.

She hangs up the phone in the same moment that she reaches the far end of the room and turns to continue her pacing.  How much longer should she wait?  Another ten minutes wasn’t a huge amount of time and maybe Quinn just got delayed, maybe she met someone at the store and stopped to talk or she got a whiff of bacon from the 24 hour café across the street and decided to have a snack, her phone on silent in her purse, leaving her oblivious to Rachel’s calls.

But a feeling of dread was curling in the bottom of Rachel’s stomach and she hadn’t felt this sick at any point in her pregnancy so far.  Something was wrong, she didn’t know how she knew it but she knew it, and thanks to Santana and Quinn’s addiction to crime drama television shows, and some sci-fi show that looked like it had been crossed with a western, she knew all sorts of horrible things that could happen to someone in well under ten minutes.

The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.

She doesn’t remember climbing the stairs but by the time she reaches her bedroom door, tears are already streaming down her cheeks.  There’s nothing subtle about the shake she gives her sleeping fiancé.

“S-santana!”

The Latina groaned, shrugged off Rachel’s hand and mumbles something that Rachel didn’t catch.

“Santana! Please!”

Rachel’s voice breaks into a sob during the second word but it’s enough to break Santana out of the fog of sleep that had been holding her.  Her eyes snapped open and the next moment she had pulled Rachel into her lap, fighting the surge of panic Rachel’s tone had shot through her as the inspects the diva for any visible problems.

“What’s wrong Rach?  Are you hurt?  Is it the babies?  I’m going to call 911!”

“No!” Rachel grabs the hand that Santana been reaching out for her cell phone with, “I’m fine, we’re fine.”

Santana visibly relaxes, her hand returning to rub gently on Rachel’s baby bump in a gesture that she knew calmed both her fiancé and her babies.  She knew something was still wrong though, sure Rachel woke her up with amazing regularity in the middle of the night, not that Santana had a problem with that, but she was never this upset.  She was sometimes a little whiny but usually she was more apologetic than anything else.

“So what’s wrong Rach?”

“It’s Quinn.” Rachel explains as she tries to hold back another sob, “She’s disappeared!”

It takes Santana another five minutes to calm down Rachel enough to get a full explanation of what the problem is, but as soon as she has, she’s climbing out of bed and pulling sweatpants over the boy shorts she happened to be sleeping in, all the while assuring Rachel that everything was fine.

“She’s going to be fine Rach.  She’s probably just broken down somewhere, or they were out of something at the store and she’s had to go over to Walmart.  You know how long it can take to get around that place.”  Santana had a bad habit of ending up buying way more than she intended to when she visited that store.  “But I’ll go find her and make sure she gets home safe.”

“I’m coming with you.” Rachel declares as she starts to search for a pair of her own sweats that actually still fit her.

“No.  You need to sleep or at least relax.  You are already way to stressed about this for my liking.”  Rachel starts to object, but Santana silences her by pressing a finger to her lips, “Don’t argue Rach, please.  I’m just trying to look out for both you and Quinn right now, please don’t make it harder than it has to be.”

Rachel nods after a moment and Santana rewards her with a grin and a kiss on her cheek before she pulls the hoody over her head.  She grabs her keys, wallet and phone and pauses just before she heads out of the bedroom.

“Rach?”

Rachel looks up from the point of the floor that she had been absently staring at but doesn’t rise from her position on the edge of the bed.

“You look after our babies, I’ll go find Quinn and we’ll be back before you know it.  Okay?”

Santana returns Rachel’s uncertain smile before she heads down stairs and out the front door, waiting until she heard the alarm system engage before she crosses the drive to her own car, now sitting next to the empty spot that Quinn had claimed for her own. 

* * *

When Rachel had told her where Quinn had gone, she had, just for an instant, wanted to scream at the girl, demand how she could be so stupid as to let the blonde leave the house alone in the middle of the night  when _he_ was still out there somewhere.  She had wanted to demand what the girl was thinking in waiting so long to wake her when the blonde hadn’t returned within the fifteen minutes the journey should have taken. 

It wasn’t Rachel’s fault, or at least not only her fault since Quinn should have known better to go out as well.  The pair probably hadn’t even thought of Russel’s existence since the news about Quinn’s mother had reached them in New York, even when they spent time at Judy’s bedside, preferring to concentrate instead on what little they could do for the still unconscious woman.  But Santana hadn’t forgotten about him.  The proof of that was the increased security around the house, the rigor with which she checked every window and door every night before they went to bed, the way her eyes searched the sidewalk every time they went for a walk and the fully charged devices all four girls carried in their purses at her insistence.

It showed in the way she checked out every pedestrian she passed on the short drive to the store.  There weren’t many and none of them were him.

She saw the flashing lights from over two blocks away, police cruisers drawn up to the curb with their lights still flashing on the roof.  For a few moments she held onto the hope that it was unrelated, a break in further down the block or a botched robbery after Quinn had already left.  But the hope is short lived, fading away as she pulled up behind one of the cruisers and Quinn’s car comes into view sitting behind police tape.

She’s out of the car in an instant, dashing across the street screaming the girls name and looking around frantically hoping to see the familiar blonde head of hair appear from one of the many groups of people that happen to be standing around.  A strong arm intercepts her before she reaches the police tape and she’s a split second from striking out when the police uniform registers.  Instead she grabs the officer by the lapels.

“Where’s Quinn?!” she demands, “Where the hell is Quinn?!”

“Santana?”

It wasn’t the cop that was holding her, or rather that she was holding since he had already retracted the arm that had caught around her waist, but a guy in a fancy suit that it took her a minute to place as one of the detectives that had searched the house when the four girls had returned from New York.

“Where’s Quinn? Please…  Where’s Quinn?” Santana begs.

“She was taken to the hospital…”

* * *

The doors to the ER slam open and almost every head in the waiting room turns involuntarily to the sound, expectations rising of a dramatic entry and possibly blood spurting everywhere as someone shouted for help.  The entry was dramatic, Rachel did nothing by halves of course and she had been practising dramatic entries and exists since she could walk, but thankfully there was no blood.  Instead brunette makes a beeline for the reception desk quickly followed by Brittany and both of Rachel’s fathers. 

The first thing Santana had done when she had finally calmed enough that the police outside the convenience store judged her safe to drive was to pull out her phone, select Rachel’s number and hesitate.  This was not the sort of news you broke over the phone to your pregnant fiancé and it wasn’t exactly like she could call Brittany either.  In the end she settled for waking up Rachel’s fathers and sending them round to talk to Rachel and Brittany.  The plan had been for the two men to break the news as gently as possible to the girls and then stay with them until the morning.

Neither Rachel or Brittany liked the plan.

“Quinn Fabray!” Rachel demands, slamming her hand onto the reception desk and actually making the nurse sitting behind it jump, “Where is she?”

The nurse blinks at Rachel and then consults her computer.

“No Quinn Fabray.” The nurse says in an uninterested tone.

“What?  She has to be here!” Rachel says, “About this tall…” she holds her hand above her head, “blonde, looks like an angel…”

Rachel’s rant is cut off when Brittany’s hand closes over her mouth.

“Her name is Lucy,” The blonde says to the nurse, “Lucy Quinn Fabray.”

Rachel’s exclamation of surprise is muffled by Brittany’s hand and the blonde rolls her eyes.  “I’ll explain later.”

“Curtain 3,” the nurse says in a bored tone.

Any confusion Rachel felt at finding out Quinn’s first name wasn’t Quinn was forgotten when she heard where the blonde was being cared for.   She had expected ICU or worse being told she was in an operating theater, dreaded being told it was too late, that the blonde was already gone and nothing they could do would help, nightmare scenarios playing through her mind one after another.  But Curtain 3 sounds so… safe, so normal, the sort of place you ended up when you needed a Band-Aid for a paper cut.  It didn’t stop them charging across the room once they figured out where the curtained off areas were, leaving the two Berry men behind them in their hurry and startling a nurse as they barrel though a pair of double doors.  Santana’s head pops out from behind a curtain in response to their calls.

“Will you too shut up and get over here!”

Santana holds the curtain open for them and there, sitting on a gurney that takes up most of the space in the small area, is Quinn.  She’s looking a little dazed and it’s obvious that she’s going to have some pretty impressive bruises along with a few lacerations, but she’s awake and apparently alert, her hands folded in her lap and wearing a somewhat bemused expression as Brittany rushes over to wrap her in a hug.

“I thought you two were going to wait at home?” Quinn asks.

“When have these two ever done anything they were told?” Santana says with an eye role, earning her a glare and slap on the arm from her fiancé.

Britt releases Quinn from the hug, holding the other blonde at arm’s length for a moment to examine her but letting go of Quinn’s arms when she winces.

“What happened?  Are you okay?  Where’s the doctor?!  How could you think it was a good idea to go out alone at this time of night?  Quinn, why aren’t you answering me?  Oh god, have you lost the ability to speak?  WHERE’S THE DOCTOR?!”

“Calm down Britt, I’m going to be okay.”  This time it’s Quinn’s turn to take Brittany in her arms and give her a reassuring squeeze, “I’ve got some bruises and a few cuts, but that’s all.”

“And a possible concussion,” Santana adds with a glare at the blonde who obviously didn’t want Brittany to worry, “We’re just waiting for some test results and if there’s nothing serious, we can take her home.”

Quinn has already shuffled over on the bed and Brittany has climbed on to the small space beside her.  Santana has taken the only chair in the small area, an ugly plastic thing designed to be easy to clean with no concern about comfort, and pulls Rachel into her lap.

“You were supposed to wait at home.” Santana observes quietly.

Rachel shrugs.  “I couldn’t not tell her,” she says indicating Brittany, “and do you really thing anyone could have kept her home?”

“At least tell me you didn’t come alone.”

Rachel shakes her head, “No, my fathers are… um…” she looks around for the two men, “in the waiting area I guess.  Daddy drove.”

Apparently only Santana had noticed that Quinn had avoided the question about what had happened to cause her to end up at the hospital.  She had asked too almost as soon as she had arrived at the blonde’s bedside but Quinn had avoided answering that time too.  Santana had decided not to push it while they were at the hospital, she’d wait until Quinn had been taken care of and they’d all had some sleep before she went hunting for answers.

It is another thirty minutes before the doctor comes back to discharge Quinn.  She is indeed suffering a concussion, though just a mild one, and is instructed not to drive or operate heavy machinery for seventy two hours.  A prescription is written for painkillers and the blonde is supplied with enough pills to last her a few days until she can get the prescription filled.

The sun is just starting to break the horizon by the time the Berry men, one driving their own car and the other driving Santana’s, pull up outside the girl’s home.  The four girls climb out and head straight to their beds, the two Berry men following them into the house and making themselves comfortable on the living room sofas.

* * *

It’s lunch time when the girls finally started surfacing the next day.  Hiram and LeRoy had decided to raid the kitchen for something to eat, still too worried about the girls and the events of the previous night to leave for their own home, and the smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes and just about every other breakfast food brings first Quinn and Brittany and then Santana and Rachel down the stairs.

The six of them sit around the kitchen table.  The only noise to interrupt the silence is that of knives and forks on plates, the crackling of Brittany’s cereal and the occasional request to pass something from one side of the table to the other.  So everyone jumps when the front door bell goes off, loud and clear even in the kitchen.

Santana’s reactions are the fastest as she grabs the little screen that shows the video feed from the front door.  She frowns as she glares at the screen, before slamming it down with a huff and stalking out of the kitchen.  Silent looks are exchanged in the kitchen and Rachel reaches for the screen even as they can hear the front door opening.  A few moments and some muffled discussion later, Santana calls through from the living room.

“Quinn, can you come through here please.”

The blonde doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes as she pushes up from the table, reaches out for Brittany’s hand and leads her out of the kitchen.  The others stand one after the other and follow until they are all standing in the living room looking at the two strangers that were standing next to Santana.

“Quinn, this is Detective Williams and Detective Jackson.” Santana introduces the two men, “They want to talk to you about last night.”

Quinn’s attention turns from the Latina to the two men.

“Miss Fabray, we’re investigating the events of last night and we’d like to take a statement from you, if you’re able.”

Quinn nods, gesturing the two men to one of the sofa’s as she takes the other with Brittany.  After a moments silence, Santana clears her throat.

“Okay” she gestures with one arm to Rachel and her fathers, “Why don’t we leave you to it…”

“No!”  Quinn interrupts.  She takes a breath before she continues, “You all want to know anyway and I’d rather not have to repeat myself.  What happened was …”

* * *

_The trip to the store had been uneventful; the roads were pretty much deserted as was the parking lot outside the local store.  The blonde boy behind the counter, apparently the only member of staff in the store, smiled and nodded at Quinn as she entered.  She cheerleader was pretty sure she’d seen him around the school somewhere, one of the football team probably._

_It didn’t take long to find everything on Rachel’s short list and Quinn really didn’t want to know what the brunette was planning on making.  Bananas, peanut butter and pickles?  It sounded like the recipe for disaster to Quinn but as long as she didn’t have to eat it or watch Rachel eat it…_

_She added a few other things that she knew she needed to her basket before heading to the counter.  The boy behind the counter, she thought his name was Sean or Samuel or something like that, tried to make small talk as he ran the items over the scanner but she was too tired for that and just glared at him mutely until he gave up and read her the total.  She paid, grabbed the paper bag he’d put everything into and left._

_Her car was only a dozen steps away from the door and she stifled a yawn as she dug in her purse for her keys.  She’d only had them a few minutes ago but they at the mist inconvenient times they seemed to have a life of their own, always finding their way to the most inaccessible corner of her bag.  She placed the grocery bag on the roof of her car and swung her purse off her shoulder to get a better look inside._

_Without any warning that she noticed, something stuck her hard from behind smashing her whole body against the car.  Her head bounced off the metal post between the front and back doors, an inch in either direction would have seen it smashing glass, and stars burst into existence obscuring her vision for a moment.  When she regains her senses she finds herself on her hands and knees next to her car, the beginnings of a major headache already making itself known._

_She lowers herself to sit with her back against her car for a moment, just long enough to catch her breath, and she’s just in time to duck the empty bottle that had been thrown at her head._

_“You Bitch!  You ungrateful little bitch!  It’s all your fault!  After everything I’ve done for you and you just walk away and break your mother’s heart.  And then what do you do?!  Shacking up in a house of whores like the harlot you are.  Dykes!  Scum of the earth!...”_

_The ranting went on but Quinn honestly couldn’t have told you what he had said, once she realized who it was and what he was ranting about, she tuned him out.  All she could hope was that Sean or Samuel or whatever his name was had called the police or was at least coming to her aid.  On that note, it finally occurred to her to open her mouth and scream; it wasn’t worth even attempting to reason with him in this mood._

_All it earned her howls of laughter from her father._

_He had another bottle but he didn’t seem inclined to throw this one.  Quinn watched as he drained it dry then stumbled over to a nearby lamp post, smashing the bottom off the bottle and leaving him holding the jagged neck._

_“Well I’ve dealt with your mother and now I’m going to deal with you!  I’d tell you to say your prayers, but God doesn’t listen to crap like you.”_

_Quinn’s feet scrabble at tarmac as she frantically tries to distance herself from him, pushing herself along the side of her car until her hand collides with something.  Her purse!  The memory of a canister of pepper spray being thrust into it by Rachel floats through her mind and she’s dumping the remaining contents of her purse on the ground in an attempt to find the small yellow and black canister._

_It’s not there, it must have rolled away when she originally dropped her purse, but her fingers close around something else and if she had the time, Quinn would have taken a moment to give thanks to whatever deity would listen for Santana’s paranoia.  She turns, holding the device out in shaking hands, to find her father only a dozen feet away and charging at her.  Without even a conscious thought, she pulls the trigger._

_Two metal prongs fly out of the front of the taser, thin wire uncoiling behind them as they cross the distance to embed themselves in Russel’s chest.  The impact, as minor as it is, causes him to stumble to a stop, looking down at his chest in confusion then fifty thousand volts burns from one prong to the other.  Quinn isn’t sure how long she holds the trigger down for but Russel stands frozen until she finally releases it, then he crumples onto the ground in a heap._

_Quinn drops the taser as if it’s burnt her, her eyes still trained on the immobile form of her father as sobs wracks her body, then she slowly tips over to one side and lets blackness take her._

* * *

“And that’s it.”  Quinn says after taking a shaky breath, “The next thing I remember I’m in the ER with Santana hovering over me.”

When Quinn finishes the room is full of a silence deeper than that of people not talking.  Brittany has her arms wrapped around Quinn and looks like she’s on the verge of bursting into tears even as Quinn leans against her wearing a worryingly blank expression.  Rachel is pretty sure that she can see her fathers and Santana are literally vibrating with rage but in true diva style, she won’t be silenced by her anger.

“I want him charged with attempted murder!” she declares as she turns her attention to the detectives, “In addition to the charge for Quinn’s Mom.  That’s what he was trying to do, he said it himself.”

Maybe Rachel should have picked her words more carefully because Brittany finally burst into tears, burying her face into Quinn’s neck and clinging on to the blonde as if someone was about to haul them apart.  Hiram even crosses the room to stand behind the sofa and rest comforting hands on the two blondes backs.

“I’m afraid there won’t be any charges pressed against Mr Fabray.”  Detective Williams said.

The silence in the room was immediately replaced with ear splitting noise as everyone except Quinn starts yelling at the detectives, even Brittany manages to pull her face out of Quinn’s neck to turn her wrath towards the two, now rather pale and startled, men.  It takes a while, but the detective finally manages to get the room to settle into a somewhat subtle silence.

“Mr Fabray won’t be charged with the attack on Quinn or his previous attack on Mrs Fabray.”  This starts another avalanche of arguments but the Detective holds up his hand.  “Because” he says loudly before continuing in a normal voice, “when Police and EMT’s arrived on scene last night I was discovered that Mr Fabray was in cardiac arrest.”  He pauses and swallows, directing the next comment to Quinn, “The EMT’s tried everything they could but they weren’t successful in resuscitating him.  I’m sorry.”

“He’s dead?” Quinn asks after a moment, a little surprised at how even how voice sounded.

“Yes.”

Quinn nods once, her gaze dropping to where her and Brittany’s hands are linked, while everyone else in the room exchange glances.  Suddenly deprived of the target of their anger, Rachel’s fathers start pacing back and forward in the small space behind one of the sofas while Santana repeatedly clenches and releases her fists as her glare burns a hole in the floor.

Rachel watches Quinn carefully and the lack of reaction from the blonde is just starting to worry her when Quinn suddenly pulls Brittany into a hug and kisses her thoroughly.  Rachel is just about to look away to give the pair some privacy when Quinn stands.

“Okay, I’m ready.” She addresses the detectives.

“I’m sorry, ready for what?” Detective Williams asks after sharing a confused glance with his partner.

“For you to arrest me” Quinn says evenly, “That’s what you came here for right?  To arrest me for killing my father?”

  “No!”  Santana was on her feet almost instantly and it only took a moment for her to take the few steps that physically placed her between Quinn and the detectives, “You’ll arrest her over my dead body!  I swear, if you so much as even lay a finger on her…”

“Santana, please!” Detective Williams interrupts, “I’m not here to arrest anyone.”

Santana shoots the man a glare that tells him exactly what will happen to him if he’s lying but she backs off, opting to lower herself onto the sofa so that Quinn was sandwiched between her and Brittany.  The detective turns his attention back to the blonde.

“Quinn, you’re not responsible for your father’s death.  Our medical examiner performed an autopsy this morning and while it won’t be official until the blood tests are completed, he was pretty confident of the cause of death.  Your father had a recently diagnosed heart condition for which he was taking, or at least was supposed to be taking, medication.  We’re not sure if he was actually taking his pills or not but even if he was, the amount of alcohol in his system would have neutralised their effects anyway.  It’s our M.E.’s opinion is that the exertion from the attack was what killed him.”

“But it didn’t.” Quinn said after a moment, “He was fine until I used the taser.”

“The M.E. doesn’t think so and he’s not one to bend the truth.”  Quinn shakes her head at the detectives words, but he continues before she can interrupt, “And whatever actually killed him, there is a CCTV video that clearly shows you were simply defending yourself.  Given the circumstances, there wouldn’t be any charges anyway.”

Quinn shakes her head again but doesn’t say anything.  After a moment she stands, her hand still linked with Brittany, and without a word leads the other girl out of the room and upstairs.


End file.
